One of the unfortunate facts about cancer is that it can be in the process of taking over well before you even know you’re sick. If you haven’t received a cancer screening such as a mammogram or a colonoscopy, or if you have one of the dozens of cancer types for which there are no commonly available screenings, cancer can be spreading in the body without you even knowing it. Generations of cancer patients have died too young because their disease was only caught when they started showing symptoms, which is often at stages when treatments are less effective.
Medical science is providing an opportunity to change this deadly paradigm. And if public policy is conducted wisely, Nevadans will soon have a chance to benefit.
The breakthrough development is blood tests that can detect bits of DNA that cancer cells shed in the bloodstream. From a simple draw of blood, physicians can learn if their patients have cancer and where those cancers exist in the body. For example, a study conducted this year of more than 6,600 individuals found that adding multi-cancer early detection (MCED) tests to the typical standard of care more than doubled the number of cancers detected in patients. Further, more than 70 percent of those participants who had cancers detected had variations of the disease for which there are currently no recommended routine screenings. Other studies in the United States and United Kingdom are close to reading out.
