# Nickolas Papadopoulos

Source: https://onco.cc/people/nickolas-papadopoulos/  
OnCo record `nickolas-papadopoulos` (Person). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Co-developed CancerSEEK, the blood test that showed multi-cancer early detection is possible, and ran the first prospective screening study of it.

## Summary

Nickolas Papadopoulos co-led with Bert Vogelstein and Kenneth Kinzler the development of CancerSEEK, the blood test combining ctDNA mutations and protein markers that detected eight cancer types, and the DETECT-A study, the first prospective trial to show a blood test can find cancers in asymptomatic women and lead to curative surgery. He co-founded Thrive (now part of Exact Sciences) and discovered mismatch repair genes with the Hopkins group.

## Fields

- Kind: Person
- Last checked: 2026-09-10
- Tags: early-detection; liquid-biopsy; mced
- Role: Professor of Oncology and Pathology, Ludwig Center and Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins
- Specialisms: Early cancer detection; Liquid biopsy; Cancer genetics; Multi-cancer screening

## Sources

- PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Papadopoulos%20N%5BAuthor%5D%20CancerSEEK%20OR%20liquid%20biopsy

## Connected records

- technologies: [Liquid biopsy (ctDNA)](https://onco.cc/technologies/liquid-biopsy/), [Multi-cancer early detection (MCED)](https://onco.cc/technologies/mced/)
- institutions: [Johns Hopkins Hospital / Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center](https://onco.cc/institutions/johns-hopkins/)
- key papers: [Combined circulating tumor DNA and protein biomarker-based liquid biopsy for the earlier detection of pancreatic cancers](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-cohen-ctdna-protein-liquid-biopsy-pancreatic-pnas-2017/), [Core signaling pathways in human pancreatic cancers revealed by global genomic analyses](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-jones-pancreatic-core-pathways-science-2008/), [DETECT-A: a blood test plus PET-CT found treatable cancers in 10,000 women with no symptoms](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-detect-a-science-2020/), [Detection and localization of surgically resectable cancers with a multi-analyte blood test](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-cohen-cancerseek-multi-analyte-blood-test-science-2018/)
- terms: [DETECT-A: a blood test plus PET-CT to screen 10,006 women with no symptoms](https://onco.cc/terms/detect-a-study/)
- roadmaps: [ctDNA tests roadmap: from a curiosity in plasma to blood tests that decide treatment](https://onco.cc/roadmaps/ctdna-tests/)

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