By Burak Bir
LONDON (AA) - Britain's National Health Service (NHS) welcomed promising results Friday of a study that is "the first step in testing a new way to identify cancer as quickly as possible."
The Galleri blood test was able to identify two out of every three cancers among 5,000 people who had visited primary care doctors with symptoms in England or Wales.
The findings are set to be presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology conference and published in The Lancet Oncology journal.
"This study is the first step in testing a new way to identify cancer as quickly as possible, being pioneered by the NHS – earlier detection of cancer is vital and this test could help us to catch more cancers at an earlier stage and help save thousands of lives," NHS National Director for Cancer Peter Johnson said in a statement.
“The finding also shows that the NHS is at the forefront of cutting edge, innovative technology," he added.