(NewsNation Now) — The fight against cancer recently took a giant leap forward with the development of a one-stop test that can detect 50 different types of the disease.
NewsNation’s Adrienne Bankert has seen cancer in her own family, and has been by the side of family members as they’ve fought against it, so she jumped at the chance to get the test.
Dr. Thom Lobe, with a clinic called Regenerveda that offers the Galleri test, said, “This is a single blood draw. The Galleri test is different because the usual screening tests that your doctor does for you are just for a small percentage of cancers.”
Galleri looks for cancer’s “fingerprints” in the blood, detecting them sooner so patients can get started making treatment decisions.
When Bankert asked the difference between the Galleri test and a genetic test, Lobe said, “A good example of a genetic test is the one for the BRCA gene. If you test positive for the BRCA gene, you might consider having a prophylactic mastectomy to prevent you from getting cancer. This is a screening to tell you whether or not you might have cancer that would need to be pursued with further diagnostic testing.”
Early detection is a huge key to cures. Lowe told Bankert that a cancer caught early using a test like Galleri might have as low as an 11% mortality rate.
Even though Bankert is not fond of needles, she steeled herself and go the test, and she’ll reveal her results in a week or so when they’re returned.