The new blood test for early detection of gastric cancer takes around three hours to process in a clinical lab and patients can expect results to be delivered to their doctor in a week.

The blood test detects the patterns of microRNA - a type of genetic material present in the blood sample.

Most cancers, including gastric cancer, secrete abnormal levels of certain microRNA sequences into the blood.

MicroRNAs are also stable in the blood, making this method of detection for cancer a reliable one.

The blood test is processed using a polymerase chain reaction to amplify a panel of 12 microRNA biomarkers, developed by molecular diagnostics company MiRXES, and the results are then converted into a risk score. Patients are then profiled according to their risk scores.

High risk scores could be an identifier of gastric cancer, and the patient would be encouraged to undergo an endoscopy to confirm the diagnosis.

The endoscopy is generally divided into two parts - a gastroscope examination and a tissue biopsy. The gastroscope examination typically takes 15 minutes, and results will be released on the same day. However, if doctors suspect that the patient might have cancer, a tissue biopsy will be done and the report will typically take up to a week.

Cheryl Tan