Instead of ordering a separate screening test for each organ, doctors may one day send a single vial of blood to a lab and get back a broad readout on multiple cancers and liver disease. That is the promise behind MethylScan, an experimental test developed by researchers at UCLA and published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in April 2026.
In an initial study of 1,061 people, the test picked up about 63 percent of cancers across all stages and 55 percent of early-stage cancers, at a specificity of 98 percent, meaning few false positives. It also correctly sorted liver disease patients into the right category about 85 percent of the time.
The findings are early, and the technology is not yet available in clinics. But it sits at the leading edge of a fast-moving field aiming to catch several cancers with one blood draw.
What a liquid biopsy actually is
A liquid biopsy is a blood test that looks for signals shed by tumors or diseased tissue, most often tiny fragments of DNA floating in the bloodstream. When cells die, their genetic material breaks apart and leaks into circulation, giving researchers a window into what is happening in organs they cannot see.
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"Every day, 50 to 70 billion cells in our body die. They don't just disappear, their DNA goes into the bloodstream," said Dr. Jasmine Zhou, senior author of the study and professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at UCLA, in the university's announcement.
Most existing liquid biopsies hunt for genetic mutations linked to specific tumors. The UCLA team took a different route. Their test reads DNA methylation, chemical tags that sit on top of DNA and switch genes on or off. Methylation patterns vary by tissue and change when cells become cancerous or damaged, which allowed the team to build a single assay that reads out signals from several organs at once.
"DNA methylation reflects the health status of a tissue. It's a very informative signal," said Dr. Wenyuan Li, professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at UCLA and co-corresponding author of the study.
What the test picked up
The UCLA study evaluated MethylScan against four cancer types, liver, lung, ovarian and stomach, along with several non-cancer conditions including hepatitis B, hepatitis C, alcohol-related liver disease and metabolic-associated fatty liver disease, according to the UCLA press release.
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For people at high risk of liver cancer, the test flagged the disease in roughly 80 percent of cases at a specificity above 90 percent. The team also reported that the method can trace signals back to the affected organ, which matters clinically because a positive blood test still needs to be confirmed with imaging or a tissue biopsy.
Because the assay reduces the sequencing depth needed to read the methylation pattern, the researchers estimate each test could cost less than $20 in materials to run, a figure that would sit well below many current single-cancer screens if it holds up in larger studies.
Where multi-cancer blood tests stand
Multi-cancer early detection has become one of the most watched areas in oncology, but real-world evidence has been mixed. Results from the NHS-Galleri trial, presented at the 2026 ASCO Annual Meeting, showed that the Galleri test did not meet its primary endpoint of reducing late-stage cancer diagnoses in a large population screen, though it did lower the number of stage IV diagnoses in the test group compared with usual care.
That trial is a reminder that a promising signal in a laboratory dataset does not automatically translate into fewer cancer deaths. Zhou noted that larger prospective trials will be needed before MethylScan can move toward clinical use.
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For readers who want to keep an eye on developments in cancer screening, it's also worth remembering how much lifestyle plays into risk. Roughly 4 in 10 cancer cases are considered preventable through changes to smoking, diet, alcohol, weight and sun exposure. Any conversation about screening should sit alongside standard prevention, and anyone with symptoms or a family history of cancer should talk to a doctor about which tests are appropriate now, rather than wait for a future assay.
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This article is made and published by Jesper Bengtson, who may have used AI in the preparation.