Health Issues: New Blood Test Approved to Detect Colorectal Cancer

This Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a brand new blood test to detect colon cancer. The blood test, made by Guardant Health’s Shield, will not be a alternative for colonoscopy. Colon cancer is the fourth most typical cancer within the United States, where 1 in 23 men and 1 in 25 women have a lifetime risk of being diagnosed. The risk is higher in African Americans. According to the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program, African Americans have Incidence 41.9 per 100,000, compared to 37.0 per 100,000 for white Americans. Black Americans are also 35% more likely to die from colon cancer than non-Hispanic whites.

The recent test is nice news, especially for the black community, because colon cancer screening rates are very low amongst eligible people. With the FDA’s approval, Medicare and personal insurance firms are more willing to cover the fee of the test, increasing access for a lot of.

We hope that the provision of this test will increase the number of individuals tested, which can translate into increased detection. Jaques Beavis, the doctora gastroenterologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering, says, “For Black and Brown communities that have historically been marginalized from equal access to health care for a variety of reasons, a blood test can be a particularly effective way to engage them in colorectal cancer screening because the test is done in a way that is familiar to all patients.” But Beavis has concerns concerning the test’s impact on overall colorectal cancer rates. A brand new screening test developed by Guardant detects DNA shed from cancer cells within the colon. Data shows it’s 83% effective at detecting colorectal cancer, but it is extremely poor at detecting precancerous polyps. “The concern with the Guardant test is that if it becomes widely used, its significant inability to adequately detect precancerous polyps could lead to an overall increase in colorectal cancer rates,” Beavis warns. The Guardant test would want to be done not less than every three years starting at age 45, which is the present age at which colonoscopies are advisable.

The American Cancer Society still recommends colonoscopy because the gold standard for detecting colon cancer.