WELCOME BACK, AND EXPERIMENTAL
NEW BLOOD TEST DESIGNED TO
DETECT A DIFFERENT KINDS OF
CANCER IS BEING CALLED AN
IMPORTANT MILESTONE IN THE
FIGHT AGAINST THE DEADLY
DISEASE.
IF A SIMPLE TEST PROVES TO BE
ACCURATE IT MAY HELP DETECT
CANCER MUCH EARLIER IN PEOPLE
WHO HAVE YET TO DEVELOP
SYMPTOMS.
TONIGHT DR. STUART BLOOM FROM
MINNESOTA ONCOLOGY IS HERE TO
TELL US MORE.
THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE.
THIS DOESN'T SOUND
REVOLUTIONARY BUT IT ALSO
SOUNDS LIKE THERE IS A LONG WAY
TO GO BEFORE WE CAN USE THIS
TEST.
IT IS BEING DESIGNED --
DEVELOPED AS A SCREENING TEST
AND WE HAVE TO TALK A LITTLE
BIT ABOUT WHAT A GOOD SCREENING
TEST IS.
IT IS A TEST THAT CAN FIND A
CANCER EARLY AND IT IS STILL
CURABLE.
SO WE HAVE BRETT CAN STIR IN
MAMMOGRAPHY, THIS TEST TOOK
1000 PATIENTS WHO ALL READY HAD
CANCER, SO THEY WERE ALL READY
DIAGNOSED WITH CANCER, AND IT
LOOKED IN THEIR BLOOD FOR A
CANCER PROTEIN, TO SEE IF THEY
HAD SOMETHING THAT WAS IN THEIR
BLOOD, SO THE THEORY WAS THAT
IF THEY FOUND IT IN THE BLOOD,
MAYBE EVEN BEFORE THEY ARE
DIAGNOSED THEY COULD DO A BLOOD
TEST AND SEE IF IT IS THERE IN
THE BLOOD.
WHAT TYPES OF CANCER IS THIS
TEST SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED TO
DETECT?
THEY DID IT, THAT IS A
REALLY GOOD QUESTION BECAUSE
THEY DID IT IN PATIENTS WHO HAD
COLON CANCER, BREAST CANCER,
BUT ALSO CANCERS THAT ARE
DIFFICULT TO SCREEN FOR LIKE
OVARIAN CANCER, PANCREATIC
CANCER, ESOPHAGEAL CANCER.
SO THEY DID IT IN THOSE TWO, BUT
THE PROBLEM IS IT REALLY, EVEN
IF YOU FOUND THESE CANCER
PROTEINS IN THOSE PATIENTS,
THEY COULDN'T TELL THEM WHERE
THAT CANCER HAD
COME FROM.
SO MAYBE SOMEDAY IT WILL COME
TO THE POINT WHERE WE GET OUR
CHOLESTEROL CHECKED FROM OUR
PRIMARY CARE PHYSICIAN AND WE
WILL ALSO GET OUR CANCER LEVEL
DRAWN.
BUT WE STILL HAVE, IN TERMS OF
THIS PARTICULAR TEST, WE SHOULD
CURB OUR ENTHUSIASM A LITTLE
BIT ABOUT IT, AND WHAT IT
ACTUALLY MEANS.
ALSO IN THIS TEST, WHEN
YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT DRAWBACKS,
SOME OF THESE TESTS CREATED A
FALSE POSITIVE WHICH COULD
CREATE EVEN MORE PROBLEMS.
RIGHT.
SO THEY DID IT ALSO, THEY RAN
THE SAME TEST IN ABOUT 1000
PATIENTS WHO HAD NO CANCER AND
1% OF THOSE IT SAID THEY HAD
CANCER.
SO IT IS CLEARLY AN ISSUE.
BUT OBVIOUSLY IN YOUR
HISTORY WITH ONCOLOGY HERE,
EARLY DETECTION IS SO
IMPORTANT.
JUST TALK ABOUT THAT IN
GENERAL.
HOW IT CAN BE THE DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH.
EVERY PERSON WHO DIES OF
CANCER IN THEORY COULD HAVE HAD
IT FOUND EARLIER BEFORE IT HAD
SPREAD TO OTHER SITES.
THAT IS WHY IT IS REALLY
IMPORTANT TO HAVE A SCREENING
TEST THAT HELPS US FIND CANCERS
REALLY EARLY WHEN THEY ARE
CURABLE.
THIS PARTICULAR TEST FOUND ONLY
ABOUT 40% OF PEOPLE WHO HAD A
STAGE I CANCER, IT WAS ONLY
POSITIVE IN THOSE PEOPLE.
STAGE I MEANS IT IS A SMALL
TUMOR AND HAS NOT SPREAD TO THE
LYMPH NODES AND THOSE ARE WHEN
WE REALLY WANT TO GET IT
BECAUSE THEY ARE THE EASIEST TO
CURE. OVERALL ARE WE MAKING
STRIDES IN THE FIGHT AGAINST
CANCER? WE REALLY ARE.
THINGS ARE MOVING SO QUICKLY.
I DO MOSTLY BREAST CANCER AND
PROSTATE CANCER, THINGS ARE
MOVING SO QUICKLY THAT YOU
CANNOT PRACTICE THE WAY YOU DID
IN 2017.
THE WAY THAT, I CAN'T PRACTICE
THE WAY I DID IN 2017 TODAY
BECAUSE SOME OF THOSE THINGS
ARE COMPLETELY OBSOLETE.
IT IS A VERY EXCITING TIME TO
BE PART OF CANCER CARE AND THE
THINGS WE ARE OFFERING OUR
PATIENTS.
THIS SPECIFIC TEST IS CALLED
CANCER SEEK BUT IT IS SOMETHING
THAT YOU THINK WILL BE HEARING
MORE OF?
I THINK WILL BE HEARING MORE
ABOUT THE TECHNOLOGY BUT THIS
TEST ITSELF HAS A LONG WAYS TO
GO BEFORE IT IS SOMETHING THAT
WE WILL BE USING ROUTINELY.
BOTTOM LINE, YOU WOULD SAY
FOR ANYBODY, MAYBE EXPERIENCING
SYMPTOMS ARE QUESTIONING
SOMETHING OR EVEN BUS OR LEXUS
BEFORE SO IT IS IMPORTANT TO
GET CHECKED.
-- BEFORE IT IS IMPORTANT TO
GET CHECKED.
YES, I HAD A COLONOSCOPY
AROUND THE TIME I WAS 50 AND
THEY FOUND OUT I HAD CANCER.
I HAD A GRANDFATHER WHO DIED OF
COLON CANCER AT 60, WE ASSUMED
HE HAD IT AT 59.
SO I DID IT 10 YEARS EARLIER
AND THEY FOUND CANCER IN ME.
IF I DID NOT GET SCREENED YOU
WOULD BE TALKING TO SOMEBODY