Routine Liquid Biopsies Could Substantially Reduce Late

Using mathematical modeling, researchers have shown that incorporating an annual multicancer early detection (MCED) test, also known as a liquid biopsy, into standard care could lead to cancers being diagnosed at an earlier stage, and substantially reduce the number of stage IV diagnoses.

“MCED testing could significantly advance precision medicine by enabling stage shift, or downstaging, at diagnosis, which can improve survival rates and allow for more tailored, less aggressive treatments,” said Jagpreet Chhatwal, PhD, the study’s lead author and director of the Institute for Technology Assessment at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. “By catching cancers earlier across multiple types, MCED may increase the proportion of patients eligible for curative therapies.”