Medicina Molecular e Genética

Multi-Cancer Early Detection Testing: Closing the Gap in Cancer Prevention

Abstract

Chen Yeh*

Early detection and screening of cancer can lead to far more favorable outcomes through early treatment and preventative measures. The field of Multi-Cancer Early Detection (MCED) is predicated on the capability to detect a signal of cancer from one blood-draw. This is clearly a transformational breakthrough but it is still early days and more work is needed. Certainly, there seem to be very positive early signs on the sensitivity, specificity and concordance of the testing. Moving forward, there would appear to be a clear economic case to be made for paying for one single test as opposed to multiple tests and who should be testing, when to test and how often. For cancers where there are currently no screening strategies in place—MCED testing is primed to be fine-tuned and developed further to offer preventive medicine for those high-risk populations.