An approach for the detection of metabolite biomarkers of gastric cancer is presented in Scientific Reports. Gastric cancer is a leading cause of cancer death, in part due to the lack of symptoms presented in its early stages. Endoscopy can accurately diagnose the disease, but its invasiveness limits its use. Meanwhile, circulating biomarkers of gastric cancer have been identified but offer low diagnostic sensitivity. To help improve the early diagnosis of gastric cancer, investigators from the Guizhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine used a combination of dried blood spot sampling and direct infusion mass spectrometry to measure blood metabolic profiles for 166 patients with the disease and 183 healthy individuals. The researchers identified a metabolite biomarker panel that they used to build a prediction model capable of distinguishing cancer patients from healthy individuals. The findings, the scientists write, may lead to the development of new diagnostic tools for gastric cancer.