ARKANSAS, USA — Mercy Health Systems and GRAIL, a health care company whose mission is to detect cancer early when it can be cured, announced today plans to offer a multi-cancer early detection blood test (MCED).
The blood test is called Galleri and uses advanced testing capabilities to detect early cancer signals of more than 50 types of cancer.
Mercy is early among health systems to offer this first-of-its-kind of test. The MCED test is recommended for adults with an elevated risk for cancer such as those aged 50 or older.
Galleri is available by prescription only and use of the test is not recommended for those who are pregnant, 21 years or younger, or undergoing active cancer treatment.
“Recommended cancer screenings in the U.S. currently cover only five types of cancer— breast, cervical, colon, lung and prostate— and can screen just one at a time,” said Dr. Jay Carlson, clinical chair of Mercy Research, a gynecologic oncologist and head of Mercy’s cancer specialty council.
“This innovative test has shown the ability to screen for hard-to-detect, aggressive and often deadly types of cancer like pancreatic, ovarian and esophageal, which oftentimes have no warning signs and are caught too late.”
The test is intended to complement cancer screenings recommended by federal guidelines and looks for a "shared signal" that is found in the bloodstream associated with many cancers.
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