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Scientists have developed a blood test that can identify traces of some returning cancers after they have been initially treated.

It works by detecting cancer DNA circulating in the blood stream.

The test is capable of picking up on tumours around eight months before they show up on hospital scans, said the team from the Institute of Cancer Research in London.

But Cancer Research, which part-funded the study, warned it was not a simple test.

Kat Arney, Cancer Research's science information manager, said: "They’re looking at ways of testing for DNA that’s been shed by tumour cells into the blood stream and saying can we use this DNA as a way of monitoring whether cancer has come back... without having to give things like scans."