Britain has announced that it will start the world's largest trial of the "Gallery" test, a pioneering blood test that could detect more than 50 types of cancer before symptoms appear.
Britain's National Health Service said it wanted to recruit 140,000 volunteers in England to see how well the test worked, as part of a randomized control trial.
The "Gallery" test, produced by the company "Grill", searches the blood of volunteers to detect any nucleic acids caused by cancerous cells, and blood samples will be immediately examined for half of the participants in the Gallery test.
British scientists working on "Gallery's" pioneering blood test (Reuters)
"We need to study the Gallery test carefully to see if it will significantly reduce the number of cancers diagnosed at a late stage," said Peter Sasini, professor of cancer prevention at King's College London.
"The test can make a huge difference in early detection of cancer, and we are excited to be the pioneers in this important research," Sasini continued.
Lung cancer is by far the most common cause of cancer death in the UK, with victims accounting for one fifth of all cancer deaths.
The NHS said lung, bowel, prostate and breast cancers were responsible for 45% of all cancer deaths in the UK.
US company Illumina said last month that it had completed the $7.1 billion acquisition of Grill, and the company announced that it would operate Grill separately from its current company.