A new blood test could detect signs of the twelve most common cancers before symptoms develop

A new ‘groundbreaking’ blood test could be introduced that could detect signs of the 12 most common cancers before symptoms develop.

Health Minister Wes Streeting, a cancer survivor himself, will unveil government-funded ‘universal’ blood screening to treat the disease within five years.

The treatment is a form of the PCR test used during the pandemic and could reportedly transform survival rates and save thousands of lives a year.

This comes after doctors in June praised a blood test that predicts whether breast cancer will return years before it shows up on scans.

Mr Streeting told it The mirror: ‘Just a few drops of blood can tell you if you have lung, breast or bladder cancer, ending the months-long wait for tests and scans. These innovations can be game changers.’

A new ‘groundbreaking’ blood test could be introduced that could detect signs of the 12 most common cancers (stock image)

Health Minister Wes Streeting will unveil government-funded ‘universal’ blood screening

The new tests cost £120 and check the 12 most common cancers: lung, breast, prostate, pancreatic, colorectal, ovarian, liver, brain, oesophageal, bladder, bone and soft tissue sarcoma and stomach cancer.

The Government is said to be funding the £2.5 million scheme through the National Institute for Health and Care Research.

Scientists have already created a start-up company Xgenera to help with its rollout, claiming it has the ‘potential to save millions of lives’.

More than 320,000 people in England – or 900 a day – are diagnosed with cancer every year, with prostate, breast, bowel and lung cancer being the most common types.

Cancer care effectively came to a standstill for some patients in 2020 when the pandemic first reached British shores, with appointments canceled and diagnostic scans postponed due to the government’s commitment to protecting the NHS.

Experts estimate that 40,000 cases of cancer went undiagnosed in the first year of the pandemic alone.

The Government is said to be funding the £2.5 million scheme through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (stock image)

The treatment is a form of the PCR test used during the pandemic and could transform cancer survival rates (stock image)

NHS cancer services are also repeatedly failing to meet their targets.

Of the 254,594 urgent cancer referrals by GPs in March, 77.3 percent had the disease diagnosed or ruled out within 28 days. The goal is 75 percent.

Less than two-thirds (68.7 percent) of patients started their first cancer treatment within two months of an urgent referral.

According to NHS guidelines, 85 percent of cancer patients should be treated within this time frame.

Screening programs are among the most effective ways to detect cancer at its early stages.