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post : How Multi-Cancer Screening Can Save Your Life
How Multi-Cancer Screening Can Save Your Life
PrintDid you know that cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States? One in two men and one in three women will develop cancer in their lifetime, and cancer incidences continue to rise. Between 2010 and 2030, total cases are projected to increase by an alarming 45%.
Fortunately, preventative screenings allow us to detect cancer. However, routine tests are extremely limited and only look for tell-tale signs that appear in the later stages of cancer.
There is a solution: multi-cancer early detection screening.
So, what is multi-cancer early detection, and how can we ensure that invasive cancers are identified for early treatment? Let’s take a look.
Types of Cancer Screenings
Over the age of 50, our risk of cancer exponentially increases. This is when screenings can be lifesaving.
Standard Screenings You’re likely familiar with standard screenings, like colon, breast, cervical, or prostate cancer testing. These include physical exams and imaging procedures, direct observation, and laboratory tests of bodily substances.
Each can identify pre-cancers and early lesions, but only five cancers have routine screenings. This leaves us vulnerable to countless other types of cancer that aren’t routinely screened for.
Revolutionary Multi-Cancer Early Detection Testing Rather than conducting individual tests for cancer screenings, ground-breaking technology now allows us to quickly screen for multiple cancers simultaneously.
We call these multi-cancer detection tests, which identify several cancers with a single blood test.
These tests identify cancer cell DNA fragments or proteins in the bloodstream. If found, it may indicate which organ the cancer originated from.
The key is early detection. Unlike conventional screenings, this test method can identify cancers before symptoms appear and dramatically shorten the time between detection and medical treatment.
Best of all, several tests are available. They screen for two to over 50 cancers, including the most deadly forms: pancreatic; ovarian; breast; skin; and uterine cancers.
What Does a Positive Cancer Screening Mean? A positive test result is not a cancer diagnosis. A cancer screening is the first step in identifying an abnormality and will be followed by diagnostic tests to determine whether it is cancer and the type.
The test may have detected a change in a tissue, which could be cancer, pre-cancer, or a false positive. However, additional testing determines what the tissue changes mean, and this is performed via a biopsy or surgical procedure and then reviewed by a pathologist.
Early Detection Is Vital: Galleri® Test Many cancers are found too late once symptoms appear in the latter stages of cancer. That’s what makes the new Galleri® multi-cancer early detection test so powerful. The Galleri® Test screens for over 50 cancers with one blood draw unlike standard, single-cancer screenings.
All cells in your body, including cancer cells, release DNA fragments into the bloodstream when they complete their life cycle and die. These fragments are known as cell-free DNA. The Galleri® Test screens your blood sample for cell-free DNA and identifies whether it comes from healthy or cancer cells.
DNA from cancer cells has specific methylation patterns that identify it as a cancer signal. Methylation is a natural process that can change the activity of DNA. Methylation patterns also contain information about the tissue type or organ associated with the cancer signal.
Understanding Your Results You will receive your test result approximately two weeks after your blood sample is received at the GRAIL lab. There are two possible results:
- No cancer signal detected
- Cancer signal detected
Galleri® looks for a cancer signal shared by more than 50 cancer types. You will not receive a comprehensive list of the 50+ types of cancer and a result for each one. If Galleri® detects a cancer signal, your result will include one or two Cancer Signal Origins, which predict the tissue type or organ associated with the cancer signal.
Keep in mind that Galleri® is a screening test and does not diagnose cancer—diagnostic testing is needed to confirm cancer. Nor is the Galleri® test a genetic risk assessment and cannot determine your future risk of developing cancer.
How Longevity Medical Clinic Can Help Advances in modern medicine are helping to detect and diagnose cancer earlier, enabling successful treatment. For this reason, transforming the way we screen for cancers is critical and lifesaving. It's also why we offer you the groundbreaking Galleri® multi-cancer early detection test.
The test is recommended for anyone over 50 years of age—when we are 13 times more likely to develop cancer. Galleri® is also recommended for anyone with an elevated risk of cancer.
Call to schedule your leading-edge Galleri® Test today!