Daijiworld Media Network - Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv, Jun 28: In a major breakthrough, a team of researchers from Israel and the United States has developed a simple blood test that can detect the risk of developing leukaemia—one of the deadliest forms of blood cancer—at an early stage. The findings were published in the prestigious journal Nature Medicine.

Led by scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, the study focused on detecting myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), an age-related condition in which blood-forming stem cells fail to mature properly. MDS often progresses to acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), a common and life-threatening blood cancer in adults.

Traditionally, diagnosing MDS requires an invasive and painful bone marrow biopsy. However, the new test eliminates this need by using advanced single-cell genetic sequencing to analyse rare stem cells that sometimes escape the bone marrow and circulate in the bloodstream.

“These circulating stem cells carry critical early indicators of MDS and can now be examined through a standard blood sample,” said Dr Nili Furer of the Weizmann Institute. “This breakthrough not only enhances early detection but also reduces the discomfort and risks associated with bone marrow sampling.”

Interestingly, the team also discovered that these stem cells act like a biological clock, offering clues about a person’s chronological age. In men, these cells tend to change earlier than in women—a possible explanation for the higher incidence of blood cancers in males.

The researchers believe that this blood test could also help in the early identification of other age-related blood disorders. A large-scale clinical trial is currently underway at multiple international medical centres to further validate the test’s effectiveness.