Businesses report progress on blood tests to detect cancer

A California-based company said its experimental blood test detected many early-stage types of cancer and gave very few false alarms in a study that included people with and without the disease.

Grail Inc. released its findings Friday in a press release and will report them Saturday at the meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago. They have not been published in a review or reviewed by other scientists.

Many companies are trying to develop early detection "liquid biopsy" tests that capture DNA fragments that cancer cells shed in the blood.

On Thursday, scientists from Johns Hopkins University launched a company called Thrive Earlier Detection Corp. to develop his CancerSEEK test, which gave results similar to those of Grail more than a year ago.

Grail is closely watched because of the extraordinary investment that he has attracted – more than a billion dollars from Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates and other celebrities.

The new findings included 2,300 people, 60% of whom had cancer and 40% of whom did not know about cancer. The test detected 55% of known cancers and triggered false alarms for 1%. The detection rate was better – 76% – for a dozen cancers that together account for nearly two-thirds of all cancer deaths in the United States, including cancers of the lung, pancreas, esophagus and ovary.

The test revealed only about one-third of the cancers at the very beginning of the disease, but as much as 84% ​​had begun to spread, but not on a large scale.

He also suggested that cancer could be present in 94% of cases and was right about 90% of the time.

This is the most encouraging part because you do not want to tell people that they can have cancer and then you have to do a lot of other tests to determine where, said Dr. Richard Schilsky, Chief Medical Officer of the Oncology Society.

"They still have a long way to go" to prove the relevance of this test as a screening tool, but these results are encouraging, he said.

Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, Acting Chief Medical Officer of the American Cancer Society, called the low rate of false alarms "remarkable."

"I have no doubt that in the next few years we will probably have a real early screening test," but the technology still needs to be improved and tried in large groups of people without known cancer where the detection rate may not be as Good, he said.

The biggest question, he said, is "is it going to make a difference in terms of results," like whether it helps people to live longer, the ultimate measure of the value of life? 39, a screening test?

The Grail test has not been compared to mammography, colonoscopy or other screening tools and is not intended to replace them, said the scientist's chief investigator. company, Alex Aravanis. Many fatal cancers detected by the Grail test do not have a screening test, he noted.

It is unclear what evidence the US Food and Drug Administration would need to approve for approval. Sometimes, tests can be sold via more flexible laboratory accreditation procedures, rather than seeking FDA approval.

Grail and Thrive already have more important studies going on.

"We will not diagnose all cancers," but that may not be necessary because many of them are not found until it is Too late for effective treatment, said Dr. Minetta Liu, a cancer specialist at Mayo Clinic, who presents the Grail results at the show. cancer conference.

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