Concerned by complications associated with late detection of cancer, the federal government yesterday launched a blood-based test that can be used for early detection of nine high mortality cancers.
The blood-based test tool known as Oncoseek, according to the federal government, was capable of detecting early, high-mortality cancer types, including breast, colorectal, esophageal, liver, lung, lymphoma, ovarian, pancreatic, and stomach cancer.
The Minister of State for Health, Dr. Iziaq Salako, launched the test in Abeokuta. Ogun State capital, at the opening of a maiden National Workshop of the National Cancer Control and Nuclear Medicine Technical Working Group.
According to the minister, the Technical Working Group, which consists of key and diverse professionals in the space, is to work out how Nigeria can begin to deploy nuclear medicine services and technologies to improve the health of Nigerians.
The group, he added, was inaugurated in February 2025 expressing delight that the group had started working vigorously in line with its mandate.
Salako said, “The increasing burden of cancer in our country demands that we deploy all solutions and all management possibilities to tackle the challenge.
“We are therefore implementing programs cutting across prevention, treatment and control, including the ongoing construction of six cancer centres of excellence across the six geopolitical zones.
“The second phase in the agenda to provide state of the art cancer treatment infrastructure is set to commence under the 2025 budget and I am happy to announce that in this second phase, FMC, Abeokuta has been selected to be a recipient of a cancer centre of excellence under the 2025 budget.
“We also now have an agency of the federal government solely dedicated to cancer research: the National Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment.
“As we know, a key challenge of cancer care in our country is late detection and presentation. A lot of cancers often present with signs and symptoms that mimic other diseases and may miss being detected.
