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First blood test for dozens of hereditary cancers approved by FDA

insideprecisionmedicine.com

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Re: First blood test for dozens of hereditary cancers approved by FDA

#21

Post by rmbyrro »

nsxwolf wrote: post #12
reaperman wrote: post #3

For clarification, it tests for 47 genes which are associated with increased risk of cancer. It doesn’t help tell you whether or not you have cancer, in contrast to blood tests like Galleri, which can do that. 0: https://www.galleri.com/

In what way is any of that actionable? Are there specific recommendations besides "eat right, exercise, don't smoke"? Sounds like something that could just induce anxiety.

In at least a few of those cancers, there can be other applicable lifestyle changes.

Also, patient can get an ultrasound exam (or other applicable) more frequently for an organ that's under a higher risk.

Re: First blood test for dozens of hereditary cancers approved by FDA

#22

Post by [deleted] »

carbocation wrote: post #18
technocratius wrote: post #16

My primary concern with these are: what will it mean in a possible future to know your risk profile, and your ability to get/maintain health insurance, also without having to pay premiums. I live in the Netherlands, so probably not too much, but US could be different, and who knows what the future holds. Anyway, this makes me less/not want to take them...

GINA should protect you against this (for health insurance) in the US but it does not necessarily extend to other forms of insurance.

[deleted]

Re: First blood test for dozens of hereditary cancers approved by FDA

#23

Post by loeg »

technocratius wrote: post #16

My primary concern with these are: what will it mean in a possible future to know your risk profile, and your ability to get/maintain health insurance, also without having to pay premiums. I live in the Netherlands, so probably not too much, but US could be different, and who knows what the future holds. Anyway, this makes me less/not want to take them...

It shouldn't be a problem in the US. The ACA requires insurers to insure people with pre-existing conditions. (And GINA is also relevant here, as sibling mentioned. I was struggling to remember its name.)

Re: First blood test for dozens of hereditary cancers approved by FDA

#26

Post by joysofpi »

copperx wrote: post #5

While this is fantastic, aren't these genes identified by 23andme other low-cost DNA tests? I'm sure they do the BRCA1 and BRCA2 variants. Or are there many more variants in this test?

they use different approaches. 23andme even has a short writeup on this: https://customercare.23andme.com/hc/en-us/articles/202904600...

Re: First blood test for dozens of hereditary cancers approved by FDA

#27

Post by margalabargala »

reaperman wrote: post #3

For clarification, it tests for 47 genes which are associated with increased risk of cancer. It doesn’t help tell you whether or not you have cancer, in contrast to blood tests like Galleri, which can do that. 0: https://www.galleri.com/

There are plenty of blood tests out there that can potentially let you know whether you have cancer. Here's another one: https://www.personalgenome.com/products/elio-plasma-resolve

The thing all of these have in common is that they aren't FDA-approved, they're just CLIA assays.

Invitae's test in the original article is FDA-approved, which is no small feat. That's not easy to do and lends a lot of credence to their tech.

If Grail could get their test FDA-approved, they would have done so.

Re: First blood test for dozens of hereditary cancers approved by FDA

#28

Post by dragonwriter »

autoexec wrote: post #20
technocratius wrote: post #16

My primary concern with these are: what will it mean in a possible future to know your risk profile, and your ability to get/maintain health insurance, also without having to pay premiums. I live in the Netherlands, so probably not too much, but US could be different, and who knows what the future holds. Anyway, this makes me less/not want to take them...

I wonder if this could keep you from even being hired for a job. Given two otherwise equal candidates I can imagine some companies may wish to choose the one which doesn't have a risk for a major cancer.

It could be, though in the US this type of thing has been anticipated, hence the Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act of 2008.

Re: First blood test for dozens of hereditary cancers approved by FDA

#29

Post by [deleted] »

technocratius wrote: post #16

My primary concern with these are: what will it mean in a possible future to know your risk profile, and your ability to get/maintain health insurance, also without having to pay premiums. I live in the Netherlands, so probably not too much, but US could be different, and who knows what the future holds. Anyway, this makes me less/not want to take them...

[deleted]

Re: First blood test for dozens of hereditary cancers approved by FDA

#30

Post by kulahan »

carbocation wrote: post #18
technocratius wrote: post #16

My primary concern with these are: what will it mean in a possible future to know your risk profile, and your ability to get/maintain health insurance, also without having to pay premiums. I live in the Netherlands, so probably not too much, but US could be different, and who knows what the future holds. Anyway, this makes me less/not want to take them...

GINA should protect you against this (for health insurance) in the US but it does not necessarily extend to other forms of insurance.

GINA needs to be much, much stronger for me to feel safe. There's a lot of potential money to be made from genetic information.
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