Bradford University researchers have developed a simple test that can be used universally to diagnose cancer. This will enable doctors to rule out patients with symptoms similar to cancer and it may prevent wasteful invasive diagnostic tests like colonoscopies. It could also be useful in hard-to-detect cancers.
The Lymphocyte Genome Sensitivity (LGS) test looks at white blood cells and measures the damage to their DNA caused by different intensities of UVA light. There is a clear distinction between damage to cancer cells and healthy cells.
Professor Diana Anderson said that although the early results, completed on three different types of cancer, were ‘remarkable’, more research was needed to be done.
The research is published July 28 2014, online in FASEB Journal, the US journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology.