Medics have said a universal screening test would reduce cancer mortality by 90 per cent, however this is still some years away.

However, rudimentary tests able to detect some cancer mutations in the blood are already being marketed and experts predict they will soon be available for as little as £155.

Dr Nicholas Turner, from the Institute of Cancer Research and London’s Royal Marsden Hospital, said: “The potential is absolutely clear and very exciting.

“If we could identify patients with, say, pancreatic or lung cancer at the point they could all have surgery, you could potentially transform management of the disease and survival for patients.”

A trial funded in part by Bill Gates and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos found that in 89 per cent of patients, at least one genetic change detected in the tumour was also detected in the blood, with a near perfect rate – 97 per cent – for breast cancer patients where their cancer had spread.

Significantly, the team at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre in New York found they could detect three quarters of “actionable” mutations – those that can be matched to an existing targeted therapy – in the blood.

“Our findings show that high-intensity circulating tumour DNA is possible and may provide invaluable information for clinical decision-making, potentially without any need for tumour tissue samples,” said Dr Pedram Razavi, who led the research.

“This study is also an important step in the process of developing blood tests for early detection of cancer.”