Multi-cancer early detection test sensitivity for cancers with and without current population-level screening options

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Genomics
• Biomarker Discovery

Background:

• Many cancers lack population-wide screening, leading to late-stage diagnosis and high mortality.
• Blood-based multi-cancer early detection (MCED) tests offer a potential strategy to improve cancer screening.
• The Circulating Cell-free Genome Atlas (CCGA) study investigates the performance of MCED tests.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the performance of an MCED test in solid tumors with and without screening recommendations, and in hematologic malignancies.
• To analyze MCED test sensitivity across different cancer types, age groups, and clinical stages.
• To assess the potential of MCED tests to complement existing cancer screening programs.

Main Methods:

• Post-hoc analysis of data from the CCGA substudy (NCT02889978).
• Participants categorized into subgroups: solid screened tumors, solid unscreened tumors, and hematologic malignancies.
• Sensitivity analysis performed across all ages and those aged 50 years or older, by cancer type and clinical stage.

Main Results:

• Aggregate sensitivity for solid screened tumors, solid unscreened tumors, and hematologic malignancies was 34%, 66%, and 55%, respectively.
• Sensitivity remained similar when restricted to participants aged 50 years or older.
• In the solid unscreened subgroup, sensitivity exceeded 75% for 44% of cancers and 50% for 72% of cancers.
• MCED test demonstrated high sensitivity for multiple cancers lacking screening recommendations.

Conclusions:

• MCED tests show significant potential for detecting cancers, particularly those without current screening guidelines.
• These tests could complement existing screening programs, potentially improving early detection rates.
• Further research and validation are warranted to integrate MCED tests into clinical practice.