A blood-based screening test detected colorectal cancer in more than 83% of the patients with the disease, according to a study published Wednesday in The New England Journal of Medicine. If approved, the test could help improve early diagnoses, which may prevent more than 90% of colorectal-cancer related deaths.
Guardant Health, the developers of the test, said it finds cancer signals in the bloodstream by identifying circulating tumor DNA. It’s hoped that only having to do a simple blood draw could encourage more people to get tested.
“I do think having a blood draw versus undergoing an invasive test will reach more people, ” said Dr. Barbara Jung, president of the American Gastroenterological Association. “My hope is that with more tools we can reach more people.”
However, even if the test is approved by the FDA, it won’t replace colonoscopies as important screenings, Jung said. “If the test in positive, the next step will be a colonoscopy,” she said, because they find precancerous lesions.
