Men\'s Health UK - 10.2019

U

ntil recently,

scientists

were limited

in what they

could glean by looking at

your blood: your vitamin

and electrolyte levels, your

white and red blood cell counts,

the state of your kidneys, and

so on. Markers of disease in the

bloodstream were simply too

small and too complex to detect.

Today, however, advances in

technology mean that blood can

be analysed more quickly, cheaply

and effectively than ever before.

There are hopes that painful

biopsies for the detection

and treatment of cancer

could eventually be

replaced by blood

testing, while separate

tests for heart disease

and even depression have

shown promising results.

“Five years ago, this

was all science fiction,” says

John Kisiel, a gastroenterologist at

the Mayo Clinic, who is developing

a blood test for liver cancer. “Now,

we’re using blood as a window to

understand what’s going on in body

parts we can’t easily touch or scan.”

Here, MH puts the latest claims in

circulation under the microscope.

THE PROMISE Scientists have

observed that cancer can shed

DNA into your blood. A test called

CancerSEEK is able to identify this DNA, as

well as cancer protein markers. So far, the test

is more than 70% accurate at spotting eight

common cancer types, five of which don’t have

screening tests for average-risk individuals

(ovarian, liver, stomach, pancreatic and

oesophageal). Researchers hope that this

will be available within five years.

RIGHT NOW A blood test is approved

to identify bowel cancer, but it’s not yet

perfect at spotting pre-cancerous polyps.

Doctors say this is for people who would rather

not undergo painful bowel cancer tests (such

as colonoscopies). A lung cancer blood test

can identify DNA that was shed from tumours

and track how well someone is responding

to treatment. According to researcher Victor

Velculescu, this “liquid biopsy” is faster

and more accurate than other tests.

TESTING

FOR

CANCER

BLEEDING-EDGE

HEALTH BENEFITS

Groundbreaking scientific advances

are reinventing the humble blood

test, injecting new life into its ability

to identify hazards to your health.

But should you really be on red alert?

44 MEN’S HEALTH

SCIENCE OR

FICTION?

BLOOD^

TESTS