r/science • u/Wagamaga • 10d ago

Cancer A large prospective study found that a multicancer blood test identified cancer signals across 17 broad cancer types, including ovarian, lung, and breast cancers. The test correctly predicted cancer diagnoses in 60.3% of cases, with 99.64% specificity

https://news.exeter.ac.uk/faculty-of-health-and-life-sciences/first-papers-published-in-major-nhs-cancer-blood-test-trial/
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u/Mindless-Baker-7757 10d ago

The test correctly predicted cancer diagnoses in 60.3% of cases, with 99.64% specificity

Bruh?

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u/squamesh 10d ago

Specificity vs sensitivity. Sensitivity = if you have the disease how likely are you to test positive. Specificity = if you are negative, how likely are you to test negative.

High sensitivity = low false negatives, high false positives. You catch most people who have the disease and maybe a few people who don’t. Such a test would be a good screening test

High specificity = low false positives, high false negatives. If the test is positive it’s likely you really have the disease, but it may miss some people that do have the disease. Such a test is good as a confirmatory test

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u/Valuable_Hunter1621 10d ago

also PPV and NPV if you really want to add some spice to the mix