Evaluating a New Cancer Screening Blood Test: Unintended Consequences and the Need for Clarity in Policy Making

Abstract

A blood test for cancer screening has been the “holy grail” ever since the carcino-embryonic antigen blood test in the 1960s was claimed to have nearly 100% sensitivity and specificity—but turned out not to ( 1)—for colorectal cancer (CRC). Nonadherence with CRC screening recommendations, now approximately 40%, might be reduced if a blood test were available to persons unwilling to have current tests that may be unpleasant (colonoscopy and its preparation) or distasteful (stool collection).