# The INSPECTOR study: enhanced feasibility for clinical translation of a multi-cancer early detection method based on enzyme-assisted high signal-to-noise ratio sequencing of methylated circulating tumor DNA

Source: https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-inspector-geneplus-cancer-commun-2025/  
OnCo record `paper-inspector-geneplus-cancer-commun-2025` (Key paper). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

A Chinese study with Geneplus-Beijing of a methylation blood test for eight cancers that found about eight in ten cancers, and about two in three stage I cancers, in people already diagnosed, at 99% specificity.

## Summary

Luo and colleagues (Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center with Geneplus-Beijing) built a targeted panel of 155,362 methylated CpG sites, read by enzyme-assisted (human TET) methylation sequencing rather than bisulphite conversion, for eight cancers: lung, breast, colorectum, liver, oesophagus, stomach, pancreas and ovary. In multicentre case-control cohorts (1,071 participants for training, 581 for validation and 824 for independent validation) the test had 99.0% specificity and 81.9% sensitivity in the independent validation set. Sensitivity was 65.5% at stage I and 79.7% at stage II. The top predicted cancer origin was right in 87.4% in independent validation (94.5% within the top two).

## Fields

- Kind: Key paper
- Last checked: 2026-11-03
- Journal: Cancer Communications
- Year: 2025
- DOI: 10.1002/cac2.70071
- Authors: Luo HY, Wei W, Li P, Zhang QH, et al.
- Findings: Independent validation: 99.0% specificity, 81.9% sensitivity.; Stage I sensitivity 65.5%; stage II 79.7%.; Top predicted origin correct in 87.4% (top two: 94.5%).
- What it means: A stage I figure this high comes from a case-control design with known cancers; the same tests usually find far fewer early cancers when they meet people without symptoms.
- Caveats: Case-control cohorts; no screening population, no positive predictive value.; Six authors are Geneplus-Beijing employees.

## Sources

- Cancer Communications 2025: INSPECTOR: https://doi.org/10.1002/cac2.70071
- PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41165038/

## Connected records

- fronts: [Early Detection & Screening](https://onco.cc/fronts/early-detection/)
- technologies: [Cell-free DNA methylation tests](https://onco.cc/technologies/cfdna-methylation-testing/), [Multi-cancer early detection (MCED)](https://onco.cc/technologies/mced/)
- drugs: [INSPECTOR methylation test (Geneplus)](https://onco.cc/drugs/inspector-mced/)
- companies: [Geneplus-Beijing](https://onco.cc/companies/geneplus/)
- institutions: [Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center](https://onco.cc/institutions/sysucc/)
- journals: [Cancer communications](https://onco.cc/journals/cancer-communications/)

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