Scientists at Harvard Medical School have announced the development of an advanced blood test called HPV-DeepSeek that can detect human papillomavirus (HPV)-related head and neck cancers up to 10 years before clinical symptoms appear with 99 percent accuracy.
This development could revolutionize the screening and early treatment of this type of cancer; the test, known as a liquid biopsy, uses whole-genome sequencing technology to identify small pieces of HPV DNA that are detached from cancerous tumors and circulating in the patient’s bloodstream.
These fragments act like a genetic fingerprint, indicating the presence of small, undetectable tumors.
To assess the test’s early detection ability, the researchers examined blood samples stored in the biobank.
Results showed that HPV-DeepSeek detected HPV DNA in 22 of 28 tumor samples, with the first positive detection corresponding to a sample taken 7.8 years before clinical diagnosis.
