Rare cancer could be caught early using simple blood tests

A pioneering study into myeloma, a rare cancer, could lead to GPs using simple blood tests to improve early diagnosis. The study investigated the best combination of blood tests that could be used to diagnose myeloma in GP practices. Researchers investigated how useful a number of different measures were for indicating the presence of the disease, and suggested what combinations of these tests were sufficient to rule out the disease, and to diagnose it, saving the patient from the worry of specialist referral. Blood tests of 2703 cases taken up to five years prior to diagnosis were analysed and compared with those of 12,157 patients without the cancer, matching cases with control patients of similar age amongst other relevant parameters. They demonstrated that a simple combination of two blood parameters could be enough to diagnose patients. Such blood tests are routinely conducted in GP surgeries. Constantinos Koshiaris, lead author of the study, from Oxford University, said: 'The combination of levels of haemoglobin, the oxygen carrier in the blood, and one of two inflammatory markers (erythrocyte sedimentation rate or plasma viscosity) are a sufficient test rule out myeloma.