Cancer blood test shows promise

Scientists in the US have trialled a blood test that detects eight common forms of cancer in 1,000 patients, and found that they could pick up 70% of their cancers.

The CancerSEEK test is now being tested in people who have not yet been diagnosed with cancer, which will be the real test of its usefulness. At present, the test can only detect 40% of stage 1 cancers.

Prof Richard Marais, from Cancer Research UK, said it would take time to prove that it worked as an early diagnosis - at least five to 10 years.

But if successful, in the future it could be used alongside other screening tools to catch cancer early and save lives.