Harms of Cancer Blood Tests? FTC Healthcare Crackdown: More Smoke Than Fire?

https://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/exclusives/99249

Welcome to the latest edition of Investigative Roundup, highlighting some of the best investigative reporting on healthcare each week.

New Blood Tests for Cancer May Carry Risks

New blood tests, which look for tiny shards of cancer DNA or proteins, are “a new frontier in screening,” the New York Times reported. However, some experts say the risks of making the tests widely available at this point in time are substantial.

The companies developing the tests say they can find dozens of cancers, and supporters say they can “slash cancer death rates by finding tumors when they are still small and curable,” the article stated. A bill in Congress with more than 250 cosponsors would authorize Medicare to pay for the tests as soon as FDA approves them.

However, companies are not waiting for regulators, the Times reported. One developer, GRAIL, is selling its annual test with a list price of $949, and another company, Exact Sciences, expects to follow suit.

“The companies would like to get the tests approved with studies less rigorous than the FDA typically requires, and they stand to make huge profits if that happens,” according to the Times.

Critics say that finding cancers sooner could mean just as many deaths because, with current treatments, cancers destined to kill are not necessarily cured if found early, the Times reported. Additionally, some people will have a positive test, but their doctors will be unable to locate the cancer. And others will be treated aggressively with surgery or chemotherapy for cancers that would not have grown and spread.

Barnett Kramer, MD, MPH, a member of the Lisa Schwartz Foundation for Truth in Medicine and former director of the Division of Cancer Prevention at the National Cancer Institute, told the Times that he fears the tests will become widely used without evidence they are beneficial. Once that happens, “it is difficult to unring the bell,” he told the outlet.

“I hope we are not halfway through a nightmare,” he said.

Filed under: General Problems