Simple blood tests could be the future of cancer diagnosis
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Around
four years ago, now 77-year-old John Gormly went for what was supposed
to be a routine blood test. But the results were life-changing.
The test suggested Gormly had colon cancer, which a colonoscopy
later confirmed was Stage 2, meaning the cancer had spread through the
wall of the colon but not to his lymph nodes.
"I thought [my doctor] was wrong," Gormly, CEO of a construction
company near Newport Beach, California, told Live Science. "I go, 'Nah, I
don't feel anything.' But there it was. It was real; the colonoscopy
showed it."
Gormly was one of the first patients to take a newly approved test called Shield, which its makers say can detect colon cancer from a blood sample. After his diagnosis, Gormly had surgery to remove the tumor and was back at work within 10 days.
"Liquid biopsies" like the one that detected early cancer for
Gormly are now coming to market. Could they lead to earlier diagnosis
and treatment?
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