Multi-cancer early detection (MCED)
A single blood test intended to screen for dozens of cancers at once, including ones with no screening today.
Galleri (GRAIL) detects methylation patterns and predicts tissue of origin; PMA submitted to FDA in January 2026 with an advisory committee scheduled for 23 September 2026, based on PATHFINDER 2 and the 140,000-person NHS-Galleri trial. Exact Sciences' Cancerguard launched as an LDT; Guardant Shield adds multi-cancer results. Key open question: does earlier detection reduce mortality, and at what false-positive cost?
How it works
Machine learning classifies cfDNA methylation, fragmentation, and protein biomarkers.
- Covers unscreened cancers (pancreatic, ovarian, liver)
- One draw
- Low sensitivity for stage I
- Mortality benefit unproven
- Diagnostic odyssey after positive result
A blood test screening for more than 50 cancers at once, before the FDA in September 2026.
The first FDA-approved blood test for colorectal cancer screening (2024), now optionally reporting other cancers too.
A multi-cancer blood test can be run in ordinary clinics, and most positive results can be resolved with imaging. But six in ten positives are false alarms that take months to resolve, and the test misses most cancers. Whether it reduces late-stage cancer or deaths is unknown; that requires randomised trials.
NHS-Galleri is the trial that will decide whether a blood test for many cancers at once should be offered by a health system. Its endpoint is a reduction in late-stage cancer rather than deaths, so even a positive result leaves the mortality question to be settled by longer follow-up.
A blood test can find early, treatable cancers in people who feel well, including cancers for which no screening exists. It is not a replacement for mammography or colonoscopy but a possible addition. Larger randomised trials are needed to show benefit outweighs harm.
Latest papers
topQuery for this technology: (TITLE:"multi-cancer early detection" OR ABSTRACT:"multi-cancer early detection" OR TITLE:"multicancer early detection" OR ABSTRACT:"multicancer early detection" OR TITLE:"MCED" OR ABSTRACT:"MCED"). Results are unfiltered search hits about Multi-cancer early detection (MCED), not a curated reading list.