New Delhi: A team of Israeli and US researchers have developed a simple blood test that can detect a person's risk of developing leukaemia -- a deadly blood cancer. In the study, published in the journal Nature Medicine, the researchers suggested that this test may replace the current more invasive method of bone marrow sampling used to diagnose certain blood cancers, Xinhua news agency reported.

The team led by researchers from Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel focused on myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) -- an age-related condition in which blood-forming stem cells do not develop properly. MDS can lead to severe anaemia and may progress to acute myeloid leukaemia, one of the most common types of blood cancer in adults.

Currently, diagnosing MDS requires the bone marrow sampling procedure that involves local anaesthesia and can cause significant discomfort and pain. The team discovered that rare stem cells, which occasionally leave the bone marrow and enter the bloodstream, carry crucial information about early signs of MDS. Using advanced single-cell genetic sequencing, they were able to analyse these cells from a standard blood sample and detect warning signs of disease.

The researchers also found that these circulating stem cells can act like a biological "clock," offering insights into a person's chronological age. In men, these cells change earlier than in women, which may help explain why blood cancers are more common in males. “The researchers also discovered that the migrating stem cells can serve as a clock for our chronological age, and that in males, their population changes earlier than in women in a way that increases the risk of cancer.

This finding may explain the higher prevalence of blood cancers among men,” said Dr. Nili Furer, from Weizmann. The researchers believe this blood test may also help identify other age-related blood disorders in the future. They noted that the findings are being tested in a large-scale clinical trial at multiple medical centres worldwide. 

(IANS)