Professor Gareth Jenkins, who led the study, said: “The test can be likened to a cancer smoke detector because a smoke detector does not detect the presence of fire in our homes but it’s by-product – smoke.
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“This test detects cancer by detecting the ‘smoke’, the mutated blood cells. The old adage of no smoke without fire also applies to ‘no cancer without mutation’ as mutation is the driving force for cancer development.”
The finger-prick test could be used as a general screening tool for people visiting their GP or to check whether symptoms such as reflux are actually caused by cancer.
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