Performance and safety of a multi-cancer early detection test: the PATHFINDER 2 study

The interventional PATHFINDER 2 study evaluated a blood-based multi-cancer early detection test in more than 35,000 adults aged 50 years or older, the population in which such screening would actually be used. The trial reports both the diagnostic performance of the test and its safety profile, including the burden of follow-up investigations triggered by positive results. Testing at this scale in an intended-use screening population is a key step toward establishing whether cell-free DNA based multi-cancer detection can complement existing single-organ screening programmes.