Novel proteomics-based plasma test for early detection of multiple cancers in the general population

Budnik and colleagues measured more than 3,000 plasma proteins by proximity extension assay in 440 people, healthy or diagnosed with 18 early-stage solid tumours, and selected sex-specific panels. The 10-protein detection panels reached an area under the curve of 0.98 in males and 0.983 in females; at stage I and 99% specificity they identified 93% (95% CI 79 to 100) of cancers among males and 84% (68 to 100) among females. 150-protein localisation panels identified the tissue of origin of most cancers in more than 80% of cases.