Blood Test Results Can Enhance Assessment of Cancer Risk

FRIDAY, Aug. 9, 2024 (HealthDay News) — The assessment of cancer risk based on symptoms, age, and sex can be enhanced by considering information from common blood test results among patients presenting with nonspecific abdominal symptoms, according to a study published online July 30 in PLOS Medicine.

Meena Rafiq, M.D., Ph.D., from University College London, and colleagues quantified the predictive value of 19 abnormal blood test results for detecting underlying cancer in patients ages 30 years and older presenting with two nonspecific abdominal symptoms (abdominal pain or bloating).

The researchers found that 2.2 percent of the 425,549 patients with abdominal pain and 2.2 percent of the 52,321 with abdominal bloating were diagnosed with cancer within 12 months after presentation. In men and women aged 60 years and older, for both symptoms, the positive predictive value for cancer exceeded the 3 percent risk threshold used by the U.K. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence for recommending urgent specialist cancer referral. In two-thirds of all patients (64 percent with abdominal pain and 70 percent with bloating), concurrent blood tests were performed. Several blood abnormalities updated a patient”s cancer risk to above the 3 percent threshold in patients aged 30 to 59 years (e.g., pre-blood test cancer risk of 1.6 percent increased to 10 percent with raised ferritin in women 50 to 59 years of age).

“Results from existing commonly used blood tests can substantially improve the clinical triage of patients presenting with abdominal pain and bloating by identifying those at highest risk of underlying cancer who should be considered for urgent referral,” the authors write.

Two authors disclosed ties to GRAIL Inc.

Abstract/Full Text