New Blood Test Offers Hope to Advanced Lung Cancer Patients

Every 2.3 minutes, someone is diagnosed with lung cancer[i] and it represents 13% of all new cancer diagnoses in the United States. While lung cancer is currently the leading cause of cancer-related death for men and women[ii], advances in treatments and diagnostics offer greater hope for patients with advanced lung cancer.

Today, there are increasingly more personalized medicines that can help extend life for advanced cancer patients from days to months and sometimes even years. In fact, some advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients have a cancer type that’s specifically associated with FDA-approved targeted therapies[iii] However, there are some barriers preventing doctors from testing for cancer mutations to effectively match patients to these important therapies.

The first FDA-approved comprehensive liquid biopsy has the potential to overcome these barriers and is being used more often by oncologists across the country. Through a simple blood draw, the test – or liquid biopsy – offers lung cancer patients and their treating oncologists critical information about the biomarkers in their cancer and can inform more effective, personalized and targeted treatment options.

Lynn and her Oncologist Dr. Luis E. Raez, Chief Scientific Officer & Medical Director, Memorial Cancer Institute/Memorial Health Care System in Pembroke Pines, Florida, shares about the benefits of liquid biopsy for oncologists and more importantly, the patients they treat.

For more information, visit:GuardantHealth.com