A "revolutionary" blood test detects cancer 10 years before it appears.

A study conducted by researchers at Mass General Brigham and Women's Hospital in the US has revealed the first blood test that can detect head and neck cancers approximately 10 years before symptoms appear.

The study, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, developed the HPV DeepSeek test to detect head and neck cancers associated with the human papillomavirus (HPV), which is responsible for approximately 70 percent of head and neck cancers in the United States .

This test can detect cancers more than 10 years before symptoms appear.

Researchers confirmed that this discovery will facilitate early detection of cancer , increasing the chances of successful treatment.

"Our study shows for the first time that we can accurately detect HPV-related cancers in people who have no symptoms, many years before they are diagnosed with cancer," said study leader Daniel Faden, a head and neck oncologist.

The researchers analyzed 56 blood samples from the Mass General Brigham and Women's Institute Biodata Bank. The data included 28 samples from people who later developed head and neck cancer, and 28 samples from healthy people as controls.

The test works by using whole genome sequencing to detect tiny pieces of viral DNA that break away from the tumor and enter the bloodstream.

The test detected viral tumor DNA in 22 of the 28 blood samples from people who later developed the disease, while the other samples were negative.

The researchers used machine learning algorithms to improve the test's performance, and were able to identify 27 out of 28 cancer cases.

Science Daily reported that rates of head and neck cancer have recently increased.

Due to the lack of a test capable of detection, patients' wrists are diagnosed after the cancer has spread throughout the body.