Cancer Check Labs’ nearly $1,500 blood test joins an emerging and controversial field of research in detecting multiple cancers with one blood draw.recommendations for cancer-specific screenings
Rai said the Cancer Check test can process a more statistically significant amount of blood than other tests. He said they are also able to mechanically separate tumor cells from the blood sample, processing tests faster and more accurately than other technologies. The company has three patents for its filter system’s technology, according to the CEO.“We’ve developed a technology that allows us to extract those CTCs from blood and that’s extremely different than anything today,” Rai said.
Amos said that looking for circulating tumor cells is an emerging and exciting area of research. But there are still many obstacles and challenges in detecting cancer early, and the company has more to do to prove their method works. “The false positive with this is zero,” Balakumaran said. “And that’s another big differentiator with the other tests, which looks at parts of the cell, not the whole cell by itself, and can make these erroneous mistakes to come up with false positives.”“If you can detect that early, you can almost eradicate mortality from cancer and that has profound implications,” Rai said. “That is really the key to curing cancer and changing outcomes.
Balakumaran said the company is gathering more data and continuing to research their test. The technology is 14 years in the making across different companies, Rai said, and it cost around $80 million to develop the filter technology.Customers can buy the test online. The company sends a phlebotomist to customers, who use a kit sent from the company to draw the blood samples, which are shipped to the lab in Dallas.