Liquid Biopsy May Reduce Late-Stage Cancer Diagnosis – Center for Health Decision Science

CHDS’s Jagpreet Chhatwal and colleagues evaluated the effect of multicancer early detection (MCED) tests – commonly known as liquid biopsy — for fourteen solid tumor cancer types and found that adoption of MCED testing could significantly reduce the frequency of late-stage cancer diagnoses.

Solid tumor cancers are classified into separate stages, based on the cancer severity. Routine screening is currently only recommended for four cancers. MCED tests are blood tests which can screen for multiple cancer types at once, but they are an emerging technology and it will be many years before real-world data on their effectiveness will be available. Chhatwal and colleagues developed a microsimulation model to assess the effectiveness of MCED testing in detecting cancer. The model simulated a cohort of 5 million US adults, estimating a lifespan for each individual considering development and progression of 14 cancers. The model compared the likelihood of early detection under the current routine screening recommendations and a scenario of the current screening plus MCED testing for all fourteen cancers. The model showed that supplemental MCED testing led to an increase in diagnosis at earlier stages of cancer and a decrease in stage IV diagnosis (the most severe stage).

Learn more: Read the full article, The Impact of Multicancer Early Detection Tests on Cancer Stage Shift: A 10-Year Microsimulation Model
Learn more: Explore the CHDS Approach to Models and Tools