# A spectroscopic liquid biopsy for the earlier detection of multiple cancer types

Source: https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-dxcover-spectroscopy-bjc-2023/  
OnCo record `paper-dxcover-spectroscopy-bjc-2023` (Key paper). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Dxcover shone infrared light through blood serum from 2,092 people and used machine learning to tell eight cancer types from no cancer.

## Summary

Cameron and colleagues applied the Dxcover Cancer Liquid Biopsy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy with machine learning, to 2,092 patients across eight cancers. Areas under the curve against symptomatic non-cancer controls were brain 0.90, breast 0.76, colorectal 0.91, kidney 0.91, lung 0.91, ovarian 0.86, pancreatic 0.84 and prostate 0.86. Pooling all eight against asymptomatic non-cancer controls, the model detected 64% of stage I cancers at 99% specificity (overall sensitivity 57%); tuned for sensitivity it found 99% of stage I cancers at 59% specificity.

## Fields

- Kind: Key paper
- Last checked: 2026-10-29
- Journal: British Journal of Cancer
- Year: 2023
- DOI: 10.1038/s41416-023-02423-7
- Authors: Cameron JM, Sala A, Antoniou G, et al.
- Findings: Eight cancer types, areas under the curve 0.76 to 0.91.; 64% of stage I cancers at 99% specificity; overall sensitivity 57%.
- What it means: A cheap, fast signal with promising discovery-stage figures; it has not been tested in a screening population.
- Caveats: Discovery study with known cancers.; Authors include Dxcover staff.

## Sources

- British Journal of Cancer 2023: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41416-023-02423-7
- PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37717120/

## Connected records

- fronts: [Early Detection & Screening](https://onco.cc/fronts/early-detection/)
- technologies: [Multi-cancer early detection (MCED)](https://onco.cc/technologies/mced/)
- drugs: [Dxcover Cancer Liquid Biopsy](https://onco.cc/drugs/dxcover-cancer-liquid-biopsy/)
- companies: [Dxcover](https://onco.cc/companies/dxcover/)
- journals: [British Journal of Cancer](https://onco.cc/journals/british-journal-of-cancer/)

---
JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/paper-dxcover-spectroscopy-bjc-2023.json