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The price tag can be substantial, with 44 million Medicare beneficiaries and an annual test costing about $1,000 a year, as well as expensive scans and biopsies for those who test positive.
He and other critics warn that the risks of releasing the tests are significant. As paradoxical as it may sound, finding cancers earlier could mean as many deaths, with the same timing, as without early detection. This is because – at least with current treatments – cancers that are meant to kill aren’t necessarily cured if found early.
And there are other risks as well. For example, some will test positive, but doctors will not be able to locate the cancer. Others will be treated aggressively with surgery or chemotherapy for cancers that won’t grow, spread, or even go away when left on their own.
Dr. Beer acknowledges that a cancer blood test “is not without risk or cost and will not detect every cancer.”
However, he said, “I think there’s been a promise of real impact.”
Other experts are worried.
Lisa Schwartz is a member of the Medical Truth Foundation and former director of the National Cancer Institute’s Division of Cancer Prevention. Barnett Kramer fears that tests will be used widely without ever demonstrating that they are useful. When that happens, “it’s hard to ring the bell,” she said.
Dr. “I hope we’re not halfway through a nightmare,” Kramer said.
Damocles Syndrome
Susan Iorio Bell, a 73-year-old nurse from Forty Fort, PA, signed up when she saw an ad on Facebook recruiting women her age for a cancer blood test study. She adheres to her belief in preventive medicine advocacy and clinical research.
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