October 16, 2025
Scientists hope the test can soon be given once a year to patients over the age of 50 as another form of cancer screening.
A new blood test known to detect 50 types of cancer is taking the healthcare industry by storm as it could help bring the numbers down of unknown cases for all patients, including African Americans, The Times reported.
Galleri, developed by the American pharmaceutical firm Grail, is designed to detect small fragments of tumor DNA potentially found in the blood to locate cancer well before symptoms begin. Scientists hope the test can soon be administered annually to patients over age 50 as another form of cancer screening.
Former chief executive of Cancer Research UK and Grail’s president of international business and biopharma, Sir Harpal Kumar, says the test can save a “substantial number of lives.”
With testing starting in the United Kingdom, Kumar was hopeful that the UK would be the first country to introduce the system nationally, as he describes the disease as a global burden. “Cancer is already a huge burden on the National Health Service (NHS). It’s already a huge burden on society. It’s a huge burden economically, and it’s going to go up by a third over the next 15 years,” Kumar said.
“If you look at international comparisons, we’ve known for 20 years or more that our survival rates are not as good as other countries with which it’s reasonable to compare; countries like Australia, Canada, the Nordic countries and so on. The good news about that is survival rates are improving everywhere; the bad news is we’re not closing the gap.”
Data shows screenings are pivotal to early detection, especially in demographics where the disease is prevalent. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Black people have a higher rate of being diagnosed and dying from different forms of cancer. In comparison to white people, Black people are more likely to be diagnosed with breast, lung, and colorectal cancers at a late stage, as the disease is more difficult to treat after it spreads to other parts of the body.
With colorectal cancer being one of the most preventable and treatable cancers, the disease continues to take more lives in the Black community than any other demographic in the U.S., with mortality rates staying steady at approximately 20% and 30% higher for Black individuals than their white counterparts.
There is hope that Galleri can help these numbers go down. The test is being worked on for over 140,000 NHS patients between the ages of 50 and 77, with results due in 2026. But so far, the data from 36,000 U.S. adults has found that the test outperformed other screenings. Warning signals of cancer were found in 43% of patients. The test also ruled cancer out in 99.5% of people who did not have it, and identified the organ or tissue where the disease came from in 88% of cases.
While research revealed annual blood tests for early signs of cancer could prevent roughly half of the cases reaching advanced stages, scientists are still trying to figure out if simple blood tests are practical in picking up cancer before symptoms appear—and if they improve survival rates.
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