{
  "id": 16716300,
  "title": "Blood test could reveal prostate cancer risk more than a decade before diagnosis",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/27/blood-test-could-reveal-prostate-cancer-risk-more-than-a-decade",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-10-27T06:28:08.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Euronews",
    "slug": "euronews",
    "url": "https://www.euronews.com/2026/10/27/blood-test-could-reveal-prostate-cancer-risk-more-than-a-decade-before-diagnosis"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A blood test developed by Oxford researchers may be able to identify men at risk of prostate cancer up to 15 years prior to diagnosis, according to a new study. \"Identifying proteins related to known prostate cancer driving genes in blood collected years before diagnosis provides new insights into the disease's earliest stages,\" explained Karl Smith-Byrne, the study's corresponding author.\n\nProstate cancer is the most prevalent cancer among men in the European Union and the second most common worldwide, following lung cancer. Each year, approximately 330,000 new cases are diagnosed in the EU, and about 75,000 men succumb to the disease.\n\nResearchers at Oxford University examined blood samples gathered between 1992 and 2000 from over 2,500 men. They compared the initial samples of 982 men who later developed prostate cancer with those of 1,573 men who did not. The team analyzed more than 6,000 distinct proteins in each participant's blood plasma, as the samples were taken years before any diagnosis, sometimes exceeding 15 years. This enabled the researchers to search for early biochemical warning signs — alterations in proteins.\n\nCertain proteins were connected to a higher overall risk of prostate cancer, while others were tied specifically to aggressive or rapid-growing forms of the disease. Additionally, men with elevated levels of particular immune-system proteins, such as GZMK and ANXA2, demonstrated a reduced long-term risk of prostate cancer, as reported in the study published in the journal European Urology.\n\n\"Prostate cancers can grow slowly, potentially never causing harm, while others are aggressive and life-threatening,\" stated Zhe Huang, the study's first author and a postdoctoral epidemiologist at Oxford Population Health. \"Ultimately, we aim to enhance our understanding of the biology of aggressive prostate cancer and identify markers that could improve risk assessment in the future,\" Huang added.\n\nThe findings, however, are not yet a definitive screening test and require further validation. \"In conjunction with existing and future genetic evidence, these findings may aid in identifying biological pathways that could be targeted to prevent aggressive prostate cancer,\" Smith-Byrne concluded.",
  "summary": "Proteins present in men’s blood could give clues to prostate cancer risk years before diagnosis.",
  "key_points": [
    "Blood test may identify prostate cancer risk 15 years before diagnosis",
    "Researchers found proteins linked to aggressive prostate cancer forms",
    "Study published in European Urology, further validation needed"
  ],
  "editors_take": "Identifying specific protein alterations years before symptoms appear offers a potential pathway to move prostate cancer management from reactive diagnosis toward proactive prevention of aggressive disease forms.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}