Another advantage of fragmentomics is that it requires much less blood than other liquid biopsy tests, she added.

The fragmentomics approach is also appealing because it requires only a blood draw, Dr. Greten noted, which is typically faster, easier to get, and less expensive than an ultrasound.

Fragmentomics is a next-generation liquid biopsy approach, said Dr. Velculescu. And it can potentially be used to detect other kinds of cancer, in addition to those the team has already studied, he added.