A blood-based test for detection of advanced adenomas and colorectal cancer (DENEB): a multicentre diagnostic accuracy study.

A blood-based assay detects colorectal cancer and advanced adenomas with 95% accuracy, showing 91% sensitivity for cancers and 81% for advanced adenomas in a multicentre study.

• Why it matters: Early detection of premalignant lesions like advanced adenomas is crucial to prevent colorectal cancer incidence and mortality, but current screening methods have limitations in participation and detection.
• What they did: The study developed a blood test analyzing 39 miRNAs using RT-qPCR, trained with machine learning on cohorts from Spain and Japan, and validated its diagnostic performance in independent cohorts.
• The result: The assay achieved high sensitivity and specificity, enabling better non-invasive screening, and supports further large-scale studies to assess its role in population screening programs.