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Blood test developed by Hong Kong researchers can detect nasopharyngeal cancer risk in asymptomatic patients, Chinese University says
- Study participants with persistently positive test results are 17 times more likely to get disease later in life, researchers say
- Findings show false positives subsequently diagnosed with cancer years later, they add
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Chinese University has said a blood test created by its researchers in Hong Kong has been proven to be effective in detecting early nasopharyngeal cancer risk in asymptomatic patients, with those showing persistently positive test results 17 times more likely to get the disease later in life.
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The university’s research team on Tuesday also said its findings revealed that some of the “false positives” – those who showed positive results in an initial screening but did not have cancer – were subsequently diagnosed with it years later.
Professor Dennis Lo Yuk-Ming, director of the Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences at the university, said there were two possibilities behind this result.
“It was possible that the false positive people were carrying the cancer virus, which gradually developed into cancer years later, or they were already at an extremely early stage of cancer which was not yet detectable by endoscopic examination or MRI,” he said.
“If those people did not have cancer at that stage, but the virus was active in their bodies. Could we do something, say prescribe medicine to suppress the virus activity? That’s one of the questions we need to work on.”
The plasma screening test can detect the Epstein-Barr virus in the blood, which is closely associated with nasopharyngeal cancer, one of the most common cancers in the city, with about 700 new cases recorded every year.
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The risk of developing the disease is three times higher for men, with the peak incidence age being about 50 to 60.
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