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News
A new blood-based assay called DENEB is turning heads in colorectal cancer screening by detecting 81% of advanced adenomas — the precancerous lesions that most blood tests miss. Published in The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology, the multicenter study also showed 91% sensitivity for any-stage CRC and 85% specificity for advanced neoplasia, potentially offering a powerful complement to colonoscopy.
Most blood-based colorectal cancer (CRC) screening tests can spot tumors, but they've long struggled to catch the precancerous polyps — called advanced adenomas — that colonoscopy excels at finding and removing. A new assay called DENEB may be changing that. Published in The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology, the multicenter study found that DENEB detected 81% of advanced adenomas and 91% of all CRC cases, including 92% of stage I–III cancers — all from a simple blood draw.
DENEB works by measuring a panel of 39 microRNAs (both cell-free and exosomal) using machine learning models trained and tested across cohorts in Spain and Japan. Researchers deliberately included advanced adenoma detection as a primary endpoint from the earliest stages of biomarker discovery — a methodological shift that appears to have paid off.
By the Numbers:
Why it matters: CRC screening rates in the U.S. fall well below the 80% population-level benchmark, and blood-based tests could reach people who skip colonoscopy altogether. While DENEB isn't ready to replace colonoscopy — and a positive result still requires follow-up colonoscopy — researchers say the data justify a large-scale prospective trial to confirm its real-world screening potential.
