Blood proteins could warn people of cancer more than 7 years ahead of diagnosis, new research says

Proteins in the blood could warn people of cancer more than seven years before it is diagnosed, according to research.

Scientists at the University of Oxford studied blood samples from more than 44,000 people in the UK Biobank, including over 4,900 people who subsequently had a cancer diagnosis, The Guardian said.

They compared the proteins of people who did and did not go on to be diagnosed with cancer and identified 618 proteins linked to 19 types of cancer, including colon, lung, non-Hodgkin lymphoma and liver, the report added.

​The authors came to the conclusion that some of these proteins could be used to detect cancer much earlier and potentially provide new treatment options, though further research was needed.​