The test was developed by AMDL, a California biotechnology company and is for investigational use only. Clinical trials in Canada, Taiwan, China, Chile and Turkey showed that the test detects cancers of the rectum, colon, breast, lungs, stomach, liver, ovaries, throat, cervix, womb, thyroid, pancreas and lymphatic system. Early detection, diagnosis and treatment are crucial in fighting cancer. However, patients do not go to their doctors until symptoms appear and by that time the cancer has spread. Once cancers show clinical symptoms, it is often too late.
Recovery depends a great deal on early detection.
Furthermore, a test that enables doctors to detect cancers early and then track the progress of their treatment more closely is an extremely valuable tool. The test could have dramatic impact on the death rates for bowel cancer and breast cancer. Late diagnosis of either of these, dramatically cuts the chances of survival for the sufferer. Bowel cancer can spread through the bowel wall and strike the surrounding organs and breast cancer can spread quickly to the lymph system and form tumors in the liver, which are extremely difficult to treat. Another obstacle to early diagnosis is that the standard tests are usually ordered to detect a specific cancer, such as breast cancer.