Eva Buto

Science Editor

evie@psu.edu

Cancer is one of the biggest threats to people’s lives worldwide, with approximately 1.9 million new cancer cases diagnosed each year in America alone. Prevention and treatment is one of the most important topics in the medical field. However, prevention measures often need to be balanced with cost and the invasiveness of the exam. For example, lung cancer is a major cause of death among elderly people with a smoking history, so computed tomography (CT) scans are often recommended for those who are considered high-risk. This allows for doctors to look for abnormalities and growths in the abdomen, but there are downsides. CT scans can expose people to quite a bit of radiation as well as be uncomfortable, time-consuming, and expensive. They also can only detect larger tumors. 

A blood test is non-invasive and quick, which makes it more ideal for the average person. A United States biotech company, Novelna, has been working on making a blood test that is sensitive enough to detect early stage cancers while being able to detect a wide range of cancers. As cancer spreads throughout the body and goes to later stages, treatment becomes harder and a full recovery becomes less likely. Therefore, it is important to detect these diseases as early as possible.

Cancer markers in the bloodstream are not a new concept. Some chemicals are excreted more by cancer cells and they enter the bloodstream, showing an abnormally high level of a biomarker that can indicate certain cancers. These are often used to rule out the pathology of cancer as well as track how well the cancer is responding to chemotherapy. However, these tests are not done on healthy individuals with no cancer history. Novelna is looking to change that.

Their patented test isolates blood plasma and tests for certain proteins that are linked to cancer. The goal is to find cancer before it starts causing symptoms and treating it proactively. Many other companies are working on this. For example, the Galleri blood test in England was shown to possibly detect up to fifty types of cancer and is currently on the market. Novelna’s test sticks out for a clear reason: the accuracy. The rate of false positives is significantly lower than what is on the current market, and their scientific study stated that they successfully identified cancer and tissue of origin in 93% of males and 84% of females. Testing is still in the very early stages of development, but the Novelna test if successful is likely to become a staple of medical care.