One Blood Draw, 12 Cancers — BloodScope Brings Multi-Cancer Liquid Biopsy Closer to Reality

One Tube of Blood, 12 Cancers Checked — The Liquid Biopsy Era Arrives

The dream scenario for cancer screening is simple: one blood draw during your annual physical, and you learn whether early-stage cancer signals exist anywhere in your body. Liquid biopsy technology has been inching toward that goal for years, but sensitivity limitations and narrow cancer-type coverage have kept it largely in the research phase.

OncoDetect's BloodScope platform took a significant step forward on April 8. By analyzing circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) and exosomal protein markers in the blood, the platform can simultaneously screen for early signals from 12 cancer types — including lung, breast, colorectal, liver, pancreatic, ovarian, gastric, esophageal, bladder, head and neck, multiple myeloma, and lymphoma.

BloodScope uses a "dual-signal verification" strategy. The first signal is ctDNA methylation patterns — cancer cells exhibit systematic differences in DNA methylation compared to normal cells, and these differences are detectable in early-stage disease. The second signal is exosomal protein markers — tumor cells release exosomes carrying specific proteins that serve as indirect cancer indicators.

In a 50,000-person prospective trial, BloodScope achieved an overall sensitivity of 85% (correctly identifying 85% of early cancers) and a specificity of 95% (meaning 95% of healthy people received accurate negative results). Sensitivity varied by cancer type — liver and pancreatic cancers exceeded 90%, while breast and prostate cancers came in at roughly 75%.

"BloodScope isn't meant to replace existing screening tools like colonoscopies or mammograms," emphasized OncoDetect CEO Dr. Wei Zhang. "It's a complement — catching cancers that have no routine screening method at all."

BloodScope is priced at $499 per test, with the expectation that costs could drop to $200 at scale. OncoDetect has partnered with Quest Diagnostics and LabCorp for testing services.

There are limitations. BloodScope's detection rate for ultra-early (pre-Stage I) cancers is lower, and it cannot pinpoint the cancer's location — it can only tell you that something may be present, after which further imaging is needed.

OncoDetect has closed an $800 million Series D at a $5.5 billion valuation and plans to expand BloodScope's cancer coverage to 20 types by 2031.