A 28-day national pathway for people with a positive multi-cancer blood test
A positive blood test with no known tumour is frightening and hard to manage. A standard imaging cascade with a time limit, and a registry of what was found, would make these tests usable.
PATHFINDER showed diagnostic resolution sometimes took months and many procedures. Propose a protocolised pathway: tissue-of-origin-directed imaging first, PET-CT second, FAPI PET or whole-body MRI third, explicit stopping rules for unresolved positives (repeat test at six months), and a mandatory registry of investigations, complications, and outcomes per positive.
- Most lethal cancers are found late · Screening exists for only a few cancers. Pancreatic, ovarian, liver, oesophageal and most lung cancers are found when cure is unlikely.
- Overdiagnosis and false alarms · Finding more cancer is not the same as saving lives. Screening also finds cancers that would never have hurt anyone, and treats them.
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not linked directly; found by shared links- IdeaA whole-population cancer interception programme: risk-stratify every adult, detect and intercept early
Shares FAPI PET as the workup for MCED positives, Whole-body MRI, Positive predictive value (PPV), Multi-cancer early detection (MCED).
- Key paperDETECT-A: a blood test plus PET-CT found treatable cancers in 10,000 women with no symptoms
Shares PATHFINDER: the first prospective test of a multi-cancer blood test in people without symptoms, Positive predictive value (PPV), PET/CT, Multi-cancer early detection (MCED).
- IdeaA mandatory decision aid before any multi-cancer blood test
Shares PATHFINDER: the first prospective test of a multi-cancer blood test in people without symptoms, Multi-cancer early detection (MCED), Overdiagnosis and false alarms.
- CompanyHarbinger Health
Shares Positive predictive value (PPV), Multi-cancer early detection (MCED), Most lethal cancers are found late.
- IdeaA urine DNA test to decide who with blood in the urine needs a camera test
Shares Positive predictive value (PPV), Overdiagnosis and false alarms, Most lethal cancers are found late.
- TrialPATHFINDER 2
Shares PATHFINDER: the first prospective test of a multi-cancer blood test in people without symptoms, Positive predictive value (PPV), Multi-cancer early detection (MCED), Most lethal cancers are found late.
- IdeaMulti-cancer blood test as the first step for patients with non-specific symptoms
Shares Positive predictive value (PPV), Multi-cancer early detection (MCED), Most lethal cancers are found late.
- IdeaEvery screening programme must publish its overdiagnosis rate each year
Shares Positive predictive value (PPV), Overdiagnosis and false alarms.