Blood Tests for Early Cancer DetectionWill the New Multi-Billion Dollar Deals Actually Help Save Lives?

“What I’m most excited about in the field of cancer care, generally speaking, is that I think we’re really on the cusp of a paradigm shift to understanding and identifying earlier stage cancer,” Steve Kafka, Chairman of Thrive Earlier Detection, told SurvivorNet in an previous interview. “That’s important because we know that the earlier the better in terms of finding cancer, and being able to have treatment options available to patients that lead to vastly improved outcomes and cures in many cases.”

Related: FDA Approves Blood Test Which May Let Some Cancer Patients Avoid Additional Biopsies

Blood tests for cancer have something of a bad reputation because of the infamous fraud perpetrated because of company called Theranos. The Theranos tests did not work and billions of dollars were lost. However, among oncologists, there is enormous excitement over the new generation of early cancer detection. Oncologists tell SurvivorNet the next generation of tests is more rooted in viable science looking for cancer cells that circulate in the blood. Still, the tests created by Thrive need to be scientifically proven and vigorously vetted.

"With a blood test, it is really important that this effort to design and validate this test is rigorous," Dr. Geoffrey Oxnard, a former thoracic oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer and now Vice President of Global Medical Lead at Foundation Medicine, told SurvivorNet in a previous interview. "Going through them to make this a really robust effort, so that the results can be believable."

Exact Sciences is set to acquire Thrive Earlier Detection for $2.15 billion, pending regulatory approval, early next year. This includes, of course, Thrives liquid biopsy test CancerSEEK, a blood test that aims to detect circulating cancer markers in patient’s blood. The hope is that this test, should trials continue to show positive results, could one day be incorporated into annual physical exams.

“Essentially what we’re looking to do for cancer today is akin to what we did for cardiovascular disease, like high blood pressure and cholesterol maybe 50 or 60 years ago,” Kafka says. “And that is to bring it into routine care with a primary care physician… We have designed the test, we call it sometimes a right sized test so that it is really able to be used in a primary care setting. That means it needs to be easy, it needs to be affordable and it needs to be really high performing in terms of producing results that the physician can trust.”

Dr. Erin Salinas explains why ovarian cancer is often caught late

Early Detection is Crucial for Better Outcomes

It’s well-known that the earlier cancer is caught, the higher likelihood it can be treated successfully. That’s the main driving force behind Thrive Earlier Detection’s mission. It’s really important, especially since certain cancers like ovarian and pancreatic are often caught in late stages due to symptoms not appearing until the disease has progressed. Oftentimes, catching the cancer early completely relies on us being exceptionally proactive about our health and, sometimes, that isn’t even enough. If this blood test is approved, detecting cancerous cells can become much easier.

Related: The PSA Blood Test and a Rectal Exam are Vital for Prostate Cancer Screening

“I think that earlier detection in a routine medical setting will truly transform cancer care,” Kafka says. “We know based on decades of evidence about survivorship that the earlier cancer is detected, the better the outcomes for patients. We know if one is diagnosed at stage 4 survival is often measured in weeks or maybe months. When cancer is detected earlier in many cases we can cure the cancer and at a minimum we can manage it over the course of many years.”

Kevin Conroy, the Chairman and CEO of Exact Sciences said “The acquisition of Thrive is a giant leap toward ensuring blood-based, multi-cancer screening becomes a reality and eventually, the standard of care. We couldn’t be more excited that Exact Sciences will be at the forefront of this incredible opportunity to serve patients.”

Dr Anirban Maitra explains why detecting pancreatic cancer early is crucial

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