Detect 50 Cancers with Just One Blood Test: MCED Test Singapore

A multi-cancer early detection (MCED) test is a blood test that looks for signals of cancer in DNA fragments circulating in the bloodstream. MCED screening is offered through Executive Health Screeners centres at Mount Elizabeth Hospitals and Gleneagles Hospital, and can check for up to 50 cancer types from a single blood sample.

It is also offered at over 40 Parkway Shenton clinics, and Parkway MediCentre, in Singapore.

Dr Tan Min-Han, founder of the MCED test LucenceINSIGHT, says: “The 50 cancers covered in the test make up over 95% of all cancer cases. However, many of these 50 cancers such as lung cancer, liver cancer and pancreatic cancer, are not routinely screened for.”

MCED is designed to be used in addition to routine screening such as mammograms, colonoscopies, and gastroscopies, not instead of them.

What is an MCED test?

MCED stands for multi-cancer early detection. It is a screening test that uses a blood sample to look for signs of several cancers at once, before symptoms appear. This sample is called a liquid biopsy.

Most screening tests look for one cancer at a time, such as a mammogram for breast cancer. An MCED test looks for signals associated with several cancers in a single blood sample.

The MCED test uses LucenceINSIGHT, developed by Lucence. Depending on the panel chosen, it screens for 6, 12 or up to 50 cancer types.

MCED is a screening test, not a diagnostic test. A positive result means further investigations are needed to find out whether cancer is present.

How does an MCED test work and how does it differ from traditional marker tests?

In an MCED test, blood is drawn in the same way as a standard blood test and sent to a laboratory for analysis.

Cancer cells shed altered DNA fragments into the bloodstream, known as circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA). The laboratory uses sequencing technology to detect these fragments, and computer analysis (machine learning) to predict which part of the body a cancer signal may have come from. Results are usually ready in about 15 – 18 working days.

MCED vs traditional tumour marker tests

An MCED test differs from familiar tumour marker tests such as CA19-9 or CA125, which measure proteins that cancer cells may make in higher amounts. Raised tumour markers do not always mean cancer, as some non-cancerous conditions can also raise them. MCED looks at genetic changes in DNA fragments instead.

Thus, MCED can detect signals of cancers such as breast, oesophagus, stomach, gastrointestinal stromal tumour (GIST), lung, bile duct, colorectal, nasopharyngeal, liver, pancreatic, cervical, and prostate cancer, among others.

Why does early cancer detection matter?

The Singapore Cancer Registry Annual Report 2023 notes that 50 people in Singapore are diagnosed with cancer every day. It also notes that 1 in 4 Singapore residents may develop cancer by age 75.

The stage at which cancer is found makes a difference to outcomes. Cancer Research UK reports that in England, around 9 in 10 people with stage 1 bowel cancer live for at least 5 years after diagnosis, compared with around 1 in 10 people with stage 4 bowel cancer.

Routine screening in Singapore currently focuses on breast, cervical and colorectal cancer. Other cancers, such as pancreatic, liver, oesophagus, and stomach cancer, do not have a routine screening test recommended for the general population. This is where MCED tests may play a role.

Cancer is also a growing concern in regional countries like Indonesia, Vietnam and Philippines

Cancer is a growing health concern across Southeast Asia, and many cancers are found late.

In 2024, an estimated 474,083 people in Indonesia, 177,404 in Vietnam and 149,852 in the Philippines were diagnosed with cancer, according to the World Health Organization’s GLOBOCAN 2024 estimates.

Breast, lung and colorectal cancer are among the most diagnosed in all three countries. So is liver cancer, which, like pancreatic cancer, does not have a routine population screening test.

• Indonesia: Without a change in strategy, the country’s National Cancer Plan 2024–2034 projects that cancer cases and deaths could rise by 63% between 2025 and 2040.

• Vietnam: Liver and stomach cancer both rank in the top 5 by new cases, alongside breast, lung and colorectal cancer.

• Philippines: Breast cancer makes up nearly 1 in 3 cancers in Filipino women. A 2022 review reported that about half of breast cancer patients (53%) and about 3 in 4 cervical cancer patients (75%) are diagnosed at an advanced stage.

Cancers found late are harder to treat, which is why finding them earlier matters. MCED is designed to be used alongside routine screening, not instead of it.

Travelling from Indonesia, Vietnam or the Philippines? See where to get an MCED test in Singapore below, or make an appointment by visiting our International Patients Guide.

Which cancers can an MCED test detect?

The cancers covered depend on the panel chosen:

• MCED 6: breast, colon, liver, lung, pancreatic and thyroid cancer.

• MCED 12: 12 cancer types including colorectal, liver, lung, nasopharyngeal, pancreatic, stomach, and thyroid cancer. Breast, cervical, endometrial and ovarian cancer are covered for women, and bladder, kidney, oesophageal and prostate cancer for men.

• MCED 50: up to 50 cancer types. In addition to the cancers above, this includes blood and lymph cancers (such as lymphoma and leukaemia), skin and eye melanoma, head and neck cancers, bone and soft tissue sarcomas, and testis, penile and vulvar cancers.

Who is the MCED test recommended for?

MCED is recommended, together with existing screening tests such as mammograms and colonoscopies, and gastroscopies, for:

• Individuals aged 40 and above without a personal history of cancer
• Individuals with an elevated cancer risk, such as a family history of cancer

Screening needs vary with age, gender, medical history and risk factors, so speak to a doctor about whether MCED is suitable for you.

Can MCED make cancer screening more accessible?

The Ministry of Health's National Population Health Survey 2022 found that close to 40% of women aged 50 to 69 had a mammogram in the previous 2 years, an example of how many people are not up to date with recommended screening.

“Over 6 in 10 Singaporean women choose not to go for their mammograms,” says Dr Tan. “And we also know that for colonoscopy, the compliance (to go for regular screening) is also not very high.”

“Tests such as the MCED make cancer screening accessible to people who may find traditional screening uncomfortable or inconvenient. It gives people an additional option.”

Can an MCED test replace a colonoscopy, gastroscopy, or mammogram?

No. MCED does not replace routine cancer screening tests.

Tests such as mammograms, faecal immunochemical tests, colonoscopies and gastroscopies, are recommended according to age and risk, and each is designed to find a specific cancer. A colonoscopy and gastroscopy can also find and remove pre-cancerous polyps during the procedure.

For example, adults aged 50 and above at average risk are recommended to start colorectal cancer screening, such as with a colonoscopy. An MCED test can be added alongside these screenings.

“The aim is not to replace tools that already work but to fill in the gaps where we currently aren't looking,” Dr Tan Min-Han says. “When used together, cancer marker tests and the MCED can help detect cancer earlier.”

How accurate is the MCED test?

Two measures describe how well a screening test performs:

• Specificity: how well the test returns a negative result in people who do not have cancer. A specificity of 99% means about 1 in 100 people without cancer may receive a false positive result.
• Sensitivity: how well the test detects cancer in people who do have it. A test with lower sensitivity may miss some cancers (a false negative).

In a validation study of LucenceINSIGHT reported in a conference abstract published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology in 2024, the test had a specificity of 99.0% and an overall sensitivity of 80.9%. The study compared blood samples from 313 healthy donors with samples from 288 people already diagnosed with cancer, so results in a routine screening population may differ.

“Mammograms have a specificity of 92%,” says Dr Tan Min-Han. “That means that 8 in 100 women receive a false positive result.”

The availability of the MCED marks a significant advancement in the way cancer screening is done. It promises a future where such screenings are as straightforward and routine as a standard blood test.

Dr Tan shares: “Cancer can be frightening but at the same time, because it is curable if diagnosed at an earlier stage, I think there is good reason for hope."