A simple blood test could soon tell us our risk of suffering from a range of diseases, thanks to a new discovery of protein signatures that can predict the likelihood of contracting over 60 conditions up to a decade in advance.
This method, which analysed the blood of 40,000 people in Britain, has proven particularly effective in assessing the risk of diseases such as multiple myeloma and pulmonary fibrosis. Julia Carrasco Zanini Sanchez from Queen Mary University of London explained that the researchers aim to adapt the method for high-priority diseases. “We are extremely excited about the opportunities that our protein signatures may have for earlier detection and ultimately improved prognosis for many diseases, including severe conditions,” she said.
The test offers a risk assessment rather than a definitive diagnosis. Researchers hope it could be used to screen high-risk populations early, allowing for rapid diagnosis or lifestyle changes to lower the risk. It could also enable participation in clinical trials for preventive medicine.
However, before the test can be used as a general screening tool, further research is needed to determine the accuracy of negative test results and the rate of false positives compared to other methods. The findings, published in the journal Nature Medicine, are based on an analysis of UK Biobank data. The UK Biobank is a long-term study involving half a million volunteers who underwent various tests and have been tracked over the years, providing researchers access to their medical records.
By examining a range of proteins in the blood of 40,000 participants and comparing these to subsequent diagnoses, scientists identified a few dozen proteins that could serve as markers to improve the prediction of 67 diseases. These include dementia, coeliac disease, heart failure, and type 2 diabetes.
