Market Intel: Liquid Biopsies For Cancer Screening – Far From Reach Or Close At Hand?

While liquid biopsy is becoming routine for cancer treatment stratification and monitoring, using blood tests to screen for early cancer in asymptomatic people remains a tantalizing target. Some question how practical such a test could be but several companies are already en route - some further down the road than others - to achieve this goal. Illumina spin-out Grail is one of these companies and while it is not alone, in a field where size matters, it may have an advantage. This article delves deeper into how these different technologies work and when they could reach the market.

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Detecting and treating cancer before it invades or metastasizes is the best way to ensure the patient survives the disease. Yet, cancers can be asymptomatic for so long that early detection can be difficult. Many innovators are betting a blood test, or liquid biopsy, could be the tool we’ve been waiting for.

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