The correct and timely diagnosis of cancer can be decisive in the outcome for the patient. However, in many cases the methods for this are complex and time consuming.
Fortunately, in recent years research in this regard has allowed the development of methods that make this task easier and faster every day . This is the case of the Galleri test, created by the American company Grail.
How does it work?
As explained in the results of a study to evaluate the effectiveness of the test, published in the Annals of Oncology , this test, which only requires a blood sample , is capable of finding more than 50 types of cancer even before they produce symptoms in the patient.
In addition, it achieves high precision , which makes it possible to use it as a multiple cancer detection test in people at risk of suffering from this disease.
The key to this operation is in the genetic analysis . The Galleri test is able to detect cancer and distinguish between the types by looking for chemical changes in fragments of the genetic code (mutations) filtered from tumors into the blood.
These fragments, which express mutations often related to the development of cancer itself, can leak into the blood long before cancer cells are present in the blood (metastasis), allowing the test to be effective in the early stages.
According to data from clinical trials carried out so far (such as the one mentioned above), the Galleri test has shown a margin of error of only 0.5%.
What is your status?
Although it does not have full and definitive approval by the US FDA (Food and Drug Administration), it does have innovative development status and a license, so the Galleri test can already be used in the Anglo-Saxon country.
On the other hand, the British NHS (National Health Service) has also started tests to approve its use in the future.
In Europe, however, there do not seem to be any plans in this regard at the moment. In fact, the European Commission is immersed in an investigation into the purchase of GRAIL , (participated among others by Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates) by the Illumina company.