1. Medtech Insight
  2. >>Device Area
  3. >>Oncology

Early Cancer Detection: Will New Screening Technology Disrupt Cancer Care?

 
• By Ben Comer

The emergence of multi-cancer blood tests for early detection is captivating investors and driving multi-billion-dollar acquisitions. Companies such as GRAIL, Thrive Earlier Detection and Guardant are predicting revolutionary change in the way cancer is diagnosed and treated. The biggest hurdle, however, may be coaxing health care systems and health insurers to join the revolution.

Cancer - DNA - test tube
• Source: Shutterstock

Early cancer detection diagnostics, along with the success of anti-smoking campaigns, are the two biggest reasons for declining mortality rates in cancer over the last several decades, even as immunotherapies, precision oncology treatments and other innovations targeting late stage cancers are improving outcomes – to an extent. To truly bend the mortality curve in oncology, early cancer detection is needed beyond the five cancer types for which routine screening products and national guidelines already exist: breast cancer, cervical cancer, prostate cancer, colon cancer and lung cancer in high-risk individuals, according to a growing number of clinicians and cancer researchers, and early detection diagnostics product developers.

In late October 2020, In Vivo and Medtech Insight convened a virtual panel to better understand the potential impact of...

Read the full article – start your free trial today!

Join thousands of industry professionals who rely on Medtech Insight for daily insights

  • Start your 7-day free trial
  • Explore trusted news, analysis, and insights
  • Access comprehensive global coverage
  • Enjoy instant access – no credit card required
Start Free Trial

Already a subscriber?

More from Oncology

Medtech Innovators Court London-Based Investors At BioWales 2025

 
• By Ashley Yeo

BioWales in London 2025 showcased the efforts healthtech innovators are making to meet investors on their own turf, illustrating changing attitudes and evolving needs.

HistoSonics’ Edison System Gains Limited UK Access, While Awaiting CE Marking

 
• By Shubham Singh

While HistoSonics is awaiting the CE mark in Europe, it hit a major milestone by securing early limited market access in Great Britain under a Unmet Clinical Need Authorization (UCNA), bringing its noninvasive histotripsy treatment to patients with liver tumors.

Digital Health Roundup: Synchron Syncs With Apple, Ketryx’s AI Agents, AdvaMed’s AI RoadMap

 
• By Marion Webb, Brian Bossetta, Natasha Barrow, Elizabeth Orr, and Shubham Singh

In this week's Digital Health Roundup, MedTech Insight's Shubham Singh explores how Ketryx's launch of validated AI agents could reshape compliance automation in medtech. Marion Webb highlights news from BCI makers Synchron, Axoft and Subsense. Elizabeth Orr discusses AI advances at the FDA.

Guardant’s Multi-Cancer Detection Test Granted FDA Breakthrough Device Designation

 
• By Natasha Barrow

Guardant Health’s methylation-based blood test – Shield MCD – showed a specificity of 98.6% and sensitivity of 75% across eight cancer types in its clinical validation data presented at ASCO.

More from Device Area

A Year After Exiting The Ventilator Market, Medtronic Recalls Thousands Of Newport Devices

 
• By Brian Bossetta

After two serious injuries and one death linked to some of its ventilators, Medtronic has recalled the devices and asked customers to stop using them and find alternative means. The action comes more than a year after the company left the market.

FDA Drops Package Labeling Guidance For Hernia Mesh Manufacturers

 
• By Brian Bossetta

The US FDA recently published a draft guidance document for manufacturers of mesh products that are used during several types of hernia repair procedures.

Medtech Innovators Court London-Based Investors At BioWales 2025

 
• By Ashley Yeo

BioWales in London 2025 showcased the efforts healthtech innovators are making to meet investors on their own turf, illustrating changing attitudes and evolving needs.