An experimental blood test detects early-stage pancreatic cancer more effectively than other available tests, identifying 71% of pancreatic cancer samples

>The new test works by detecting two sugars — CA199.STRA and CA19-9 — that are produced by pancreatic cancer cells and escape into the bloodstream. CA19-9 is the current gold-standard biomarker for pancreatic cancer. Haab’s lab identified CA199.STRA as a cancer biomarker and developed the technology to detect it.
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>On its own, the CA19-9 test correctly identified only 44% of pancreatic cancer samples in the lab. When CA199.STRA was added, the new combination test correctly identified 71% of pancreatic cancer samples.
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>The combination test also greatly reduced the number of false negatives while maintaining a low false positive rate. Low rates of false positives and false negatives are important because they reflect the test’s ability to correctly identify the presence or absence of cancer.
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Paper: [A rigorous multi-laboratory study of known PDAC biomarkers identifies increased sensitivity and specificity over CA19-9 alone – ScienceDirect](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304383524006402?via%3Dihub)