Blood Tests Could Help Catch Difficult-To-Detect Cancers

The Washington Post (4/16, Cimons) reports that many experts believe blood tests to detect cancer, “which analyze substances in the blood that might indicate cancer, represent a remarkable new chapter in cancer detection.” These diagnostics “may be especially useful finding ‘silent’ cancers – such as pancreatic or ovarian cancer – which often don’t cause symptoms until the disease is advanced and more difficult to treat.” Some examples are Grail’s Galleri test, Guardant’s Shield test, and Exact Sciences’ Cancerguard.