Researchers at Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center introduced a liquid‑biopsy approach that detects early‑stage cancers by measuring epigenetic instability—random fluctuations in DNA methylation—rather than absolute methylation levels. The method, described by the center, seeks to pick up early tumor signals across cancer types by quantifying stochastic methylation variability, which the team argues can reveal nascent malignancy. This approach diverges from existing methylation‑signature tests and could expand detection sensitivity for early tumors, but it will require large prospective validation to define clinical performance, tissue‑of‑origin resolution and false‑positive rates before deployment.