Early cancer detection

My mom was recently diagnosed with breast and lung cancer, which caused me to dig in and better understand these types of cancer. I learned about a test called the “Galleri test” from a company named Grail. You’ll see from their website, https://www.galleri.com/, that this is a blood test that screens for over 50 types of cancers and can find them well before any type of symptoms show up or before traditional screening is done (which is only done for 5 types of cancer).

Dave Asprey just released a podcast today with the President of Grail, Dr. Josh Ofman. It is well worth listening to – less than an hour and full of facts about the test and how it can be used not just for early detection but also for people who are currently being treated to see how the treatment is working. There are very few podcasts out there talking about this test – some mention it as part of a broader discussion – but this one is solely about early cancer detection using the Galleri test by Grail.

Sadly, when I mentioned this test to my mom’s oncologist I got a blank stare – she had never heard of it. She quickly looked it up and then told me why it wouldn’t help. I smiled politely and went back to my own research. My point is, don’t expect your primary physician or oncologist to have heard of this.

Anyone can get this test – it must be ordered by a doctor and the results must be interpreted by a doctor, which makes sense. It is not cheap, but either is cancer.

Listen to the podcast, read their website, and hopefully you’ll be able to join me in getting yourself or a loved one tested early.

One thought on “Early cancer detection”

  1. On a related note – I am benefiting from a new molecular residual disease test – Signatera – which uses genetic analysis of a sample of my tumor to design a personalized blood test to detect circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA). It is extremely sensitive and specific. It can be used to monitor treatment or warn of recurrence.
    I also follow a fasting regimen during treatment to reduce adverse effects and I believe improve effectiveness of my treatment. I continue to bike and maintain nutritional ketosis in between treatments.
    My health journey is documented on my web site.

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