Exact Sciences rolls out Cancerguard multi-cancer blood test

 Exact Sciences has launched its long-awaited blood test designed to detect the early stages of multiple tumors, with a plan to sell it to consumers through a telehealth program in a bid to increase cancer screening rates. 

The Cancerguard test can help spot the signs of more than 50 different types of malignancies, according to the company—excluding breast and prostate cancers but including aggressive diseases and those responsible for more than 80% of annual new diagnoses in the U.S., such as cancers of the pancreas, ovaries, liver, lungs, esophagus and stomach.

At the same time, Exact Sciences estimates that about 70% of yearly cases and deaths are linked to hidden tumors that currently have no recommended screening regimen. The test is designed for adults between the ages of 50 and 84 who have not received a cancer diagnosis within three years.

“Cancerguard builds on the legacy of Cologuard, which has delivered more than 20 million test results and transformed colorectal cancer screening,” CEO Kevin Conroy said in a statement. “Backed by strong science and developed to screen for many of the deadliest cancers, the Cancerguard test represents the next bold step in our mission to detect cancer earlier.”

Exact Sciences plans to offer Cancerguard as a laboratory-developed test, priced at $689, with results turned around within two weeks. It will first be available to physicians for prescription before it opens up broader consumer access through its own web portal next month. 

The company has partnered with Quest Diagnostics to collect blood draws at its 7,000 patient access locations across the country as well as within oncology and primary care clinics and in users’ homes through mobile phlebotomy services.

Exact Sciences is also offering care navigator services, plus up to $6,000 in reimbursements for some non-covered PET or CT scans that may be required to follow up and confirm a positive result. 

“The Cancerguard test offers a critical early warning that cancer may be present and helps inform an imaging-guided pathway to diagnosis, giving people the chance to act when it matters most,” said Tom Beer, M.D., Exact Sciences’ chief medical officer for multi-cancer early detection. 

“As adoption grows, we’ll look back and ask how we ever settled for screening for only a few cancers while letting the majority go undetected,” said Beer. “Like the smartphone redefined communication, Cancerguard has the power to redefine cancer detection and the future of early intervention.”

The R&D behind the test has spanned nearly 10 years, including the work of the liquid biopsy developer Thrive Earlier Detection and its CancerSEEK program, which Exact Sciences acquired for $2.15 billion in 2020.

Cancerguard sifts the bloodstream for fragments of tumor DNA as well as proteins released from different organ sites. In previous studies, it posted a false-positive rate of less than 3%. 

In terms of sensitivity, it reached 68% among the six aforementioned cancers, and 64% overall, though again excluding breast and prostate tumors. Cancerguard also identified more than a third of Stage 1 or 2 cases. The company projects that over a decade of use, the test could reduce late, Stage 4 diagnoses by as much as 42%, where treatments are limited.

Exact Sciences is also compiling a registry of 25,000 participants to collect real-world evidence around the test as part of a plan to submit Cancerguard for FDA review in the future and make the case for insurance coverage and inclusion in screening guidelines. 

The company has billed 2025 as a transformative year for its business, following the launches earlier this year of its upgraded Cologuard Plus home test for colorectal cancer, as well as Oncodetect, a blood test for detecting minimal residual disease and recurrence following tumor treatments and surgery.

https://www.fiercebiotech.com/medtech/exact-sciences-rolls-out-cancerguard-multi-cancer-blood-test

'If RFK Jr. doesn’t resign, physicians should join a limited strike'

 

By Richard L. Kravitz,

professor of medicine at UC Davis.

On behalf of the misleadingly named Make America Healthy Again movement, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has launched an undisciplined assault on biomedical science and public health: defunding research at the National Institutes of Health, canceling mRNA vaccine studies, purging dedicated government scientists, gutting the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and potentially the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, and trying to force millions off Medicaid. Kennedy’s recent actions have, in less than a year, substantially degraded the nation’s health security. The brouhaha between Kennedy and (now former) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Susan Monarez is just the latest scene in this unfolding horror flick.

Physicians committed to promoting human health within a scientific frame need to start considering responses that would ordinarily be off the table. Major medical societies like the American Medical Association, American Academy of Family Physicians, American Academy of Pediatrics, and American College of Physicians need to show some brio. If Kennedy does not resign by Oct. 19, the beginning of National Health Education Week, they should collectively declare a limited physicians’ strike.

Americans like and trust their doctors (though not necessarily the health care system as a whole). They also depend upon physicians for disease prevention, care of acute and chronic conditions, and guidance. Physicians have a responsibility not only to inform current patients of the ongoing damage but also to defend future patients from the destructive forces that Kennedy has unleashed.

https://www.statnews.com/2025/09/12/rfk-jr-resignation-doctors-strike/

Blood Thinners Tied to Risk of Eye Hemorrhage in Wet Macular Degeneration

 

• Prior research has suggested that 7% to 8% of patients with AMD develop hemorrhagic complications.
• In this study, the use of anticoagulants or antiplatelets was linked to a higher risk of intraocular hemorrhage requiring vitrectomy in patients with exudative AMD.
• The highest risk was observed with the combined use of anticoagulants and antiplatelets, and higher medication adherence was tied to increased odds of hemorrhage.

The use of anticoagulants or antiplatelets was linked to a higher risk of intraocular hemorrhage requiring vitrectomy in patients with exudative, or "wet," age-related macular degeneration (AMD), according to a study from South Korea.

Using a retrospective, longitudinal cohort study design, anticoagulant or antiplatelet exposure was associated with a higher risk of intraocular hemorrhage requiring vitrectomy (adjusted HR 1.15, 95% CI 1.02-1.29, P=0.03), reported Se Joon Woo, MD, PhD, of Seoul National University Bundang Hospital in Seongnam, and colleagues in JAMA Network Openopens in a new tab or window.

When using a cross-sectional case-control study design, intraocular hemorrhage requiring vitrectomy was associated with the use of anticoagulants (adjusted OR 1.88, 95% CI 1.45-2.44, P<0.001) and antiplatelets (aOR 1.37, 95% CI 1.19-1.57, P<0.001).

The highest risk was observed with the combined use of anticoagulants and antiplatelets (aOR 2.28, 95% CI 1.65-3.15), and higher medication adherence was tied to increased odds of hemorrhage (aOR 1.69, 95% CI 1.45-1.97).

Prior research has suggested that 6.7% to 8% of patients with AMD develop hemorrhagic complications, including vitreous hemorrhage and retinal hemorrhage, Woo and team noted, and those with the polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV) subtype are especially vulnerable, with rates of 12.4% to 19.9%.

Hemorrhage "is one of the more feared complications of wet AMD because it can be associated with significant vision loss," Bobeck Sam Modjtahedi, MD, of Kaiser Permanente in Pasadena, California, told MedPage Today. "The severity of vision loss can vary depending on the size and location of the hemorrhage."

"Patients with larger and more central macular hemorrhages are likely to have severe vision loss," he added. "Although attempts can be made to displace the hemorrhage while concurrently treating with anti-VEGF therapy, the prognosis often remains poor."

The researchers launched the study to gain more insight into antithrombotics and ocular hemorrhage in light of small, largely underpowered studies with mixed results, Woo told MedPage Today.

He noted that the absolute risk of hemorrhage severe enough to need vitrectomy in the retrospective cohort was low, at 1.7%. Still, "because this hemorrhage is usually sight-threatening and leads to irreversible blindness, even a modest relative increase deserves attention, especially in patients on dual therapy or with high adherence."

The likely explanation for the higher risk is the fact that the drugs make bleeding more likely, he said. "Antithrombotics reduce clotting thresholds, and neovascular membranes in AMD are inherently fragile. We adjusted for major cardiovascular comorbidities, and the association persisted, suggesting the drugs themselves likely contribute. However, causality can't be proven in observational data."

Woo emphasized that "we are not advocating routine discontinuation of antithrombotics that are indicated for cardiovascular or cerebrovascular protection." Instead, he highlighted the following strategies that "address risk without compromising systemic safety":

• "Shared decision-making with cardiology/primary care to avoid unnecessary dual therapy and to ensure dosing/INR [international normalized ratio] targets are appropriate"
• "Closer ophthalmic surveillance, e.g., tighter follow-up intervals when disease is active and rapid access if new floaters/dark curtain occur"
• "Aggressive control of exudation with timely anti-VEGF treatment when indicated"

Modjtahedi noted that "we know there is a heightened risk of bleeding in general when patients take these drugs. Additionally, patients can have macular hemorrhages with or without antithrombotics, but it is foreseeable that the medication causes any bleed to be larger and more severe than it would have been otherwise."

He agreed with Woo that "these medications play an important role in reducing morbidity and mortality, so we wouldn't want patients or physicians to stop these medications prematurely."

Still, he said, "it is important to discuss the risks with patients and view these risks on a case-by-case basis."

Modjtahedi also highlighted the study's inability to distinguish cases of the PCV subtype, "which is more common in East Asia and tends to be associated with more severe hemorrhages."

Future research, he said, could offer insight into whether "physicians should take a different approach in their management of patients -- including selection of anti-VEGF agent, utilization of secondary treatment like PDT [photodynamic therapy], or modification of treatment interval -- depending on the use of antithrombotic and risk of macular hemorrhage."

For this study, Woo and team used the Korean Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service database, and identified 149,620 patients with exudative AMD older than 40 from May 2014 through April 2023. A total of 94,449 patients were included in the retrospective cohort study (mean age 71.8, 59% men), and 8,110 patients were included in the case-control study (mean age 70.2, 62.8% men).

The authors noted limitations to their study, such as limited claims data, lack of detail about anti-VEGF agents and AMD subtypes, changes in prothrombin time, and potential confounders.

Disclosures

The study was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea and the Korean ARPA-H Project.

Woo disclosed relationships with Alteogen, AbbVie, Alcon, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Curacle, Janssen, Novartis, Novelty Nobility, Roche, Kyowa Kirin, Samil, Samsung, Bioepis, Sometech, Zeiss, and RetiMark.

Modjtahedi disclosed a relationship with Genentech.

Primary Source

JAMA Network Open

Source Reference: Kim MS, et al "Antithrombotic medications and intraocular hemorrhage risk in exudative age-related macular degeneration" JAMA Netw Open 2025; DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.31366.

https://www.medpagetoday.com/ophthalmology/generalophthalmology/117433

Vax Stocks Tumble As Trump Admin To Link COVID Shots To Child Deaths

 Shares in vaccine stocks were sharply lower on Friday after a report that the Trump administration is set to announce the deaths of 25 children linked to COVID-19 vaccines, according to the Washington Post.

The findings are based on VAERS, a federal database that tracks vaccine injuries operated by the CDC. 

Trump health officials plan to include the pediatric deaths claim in a presentation next week to an influential panel of advisers to the CDC that is considering new coronavirus vaccine recommendations, which affect access to the shots and whether they’re free.

As a result shares in Pfizer, BionNTech, and Moderna spiked sharply lower in Friday trade:

Developing...

https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/vax-stocks-tumble-trump-admin-link-covid-shots-child-deaths

Turkey In Netanyahu's Crosshairs For Harboring Hamas, After Qatar Strike

 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has defended a recent airstrike on what Israel says was a Hamas headquarters in Doha, comparing the October 7 attacks to the September 11 terror attacks in the United States. The speech was given in the middle of this week, just before the 24th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, warning that Hamas leaders will be hunted down wherever they are located, and putting countries like Qatar and even Turkey on notice.

Turkey has long expressed support to Hamas leadership. Though Netanyahu did not directly name Turkey, observers interpreted his remarks as a veiled threat to Ankara, which has long hosted senior Hamas officials.

Via AFP

Calling October 7 "our 9/11," Netanyahu warned that any country offering safe haven to "Islamist terrorists" could become targets of Israeli intelligence operations. He urged governments to expel or prosecute such individuals, or potentially face the wrath of unilateral Israeli action.

He laid out: "Well, yesterday, we acted in the same manner. We pursued the masterminds of terror who perpetrated the massacre of October 7. And we did this. In Qatar, which provides a safe haven, harbors terrorists, funds Hamas, gives its terrorist leaders luxurious villas, and provides them with everything."

Netanyahu continued: "We did exactly what America did when it pursued Al-Qaeda terrorists in Afghanistan, and after they went and killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan."

He added: "Now, various countries around the world condemn Israel. They should be ashamed of themselves. What did they do after America eliminated Osama bin Laden? Did they say: What a terrible thing happened in Afghanistan or Pakistan? No, they applauded. They should commend Israel for adhering to the same principles and applying them."

The prime minister invoked a UN Security Council resolution that called on governments to deny safe haven to terrorists, arguing that Israel is acting on the same principles. 

In recent weeks, Netanyahu stunned the region by recognizing the Armenian genocide of 1915 in an interview in an unprecedented first for the Israeli government.

The Erdogan government seems this as a calculated provocation aimed at embarrassing Turkey, as Turks have long considered this issue a red line. Within Turkey, individuals can be thrown in jail if they publicly advocate for Armenian genocide recognition, especially journalists.

NEW: Israel considered attacking Hamas' top leadership in Turkey, Egyptians told the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar, but changed mind because of Ankara’s Nato membership and political and economic costs.

Netanyahu thought Trump could handle Qatar consequences

— Kann

— Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu) September 11, 2025

Interestingly, just on Thursday Israel's Haaretz newspaper wrote that Turkey Could Be Next in Israel's Cross-hairs After Qatar in a headline.

"The Shin Bet security service announced last week that it thwarted a Turkey-based Hamas cell's plot to assassinate National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. Ankara quickly denied involvement," the newspaper said. "But the revelation raised an explosive question: Could Turkey have a hand in helping Hamas assassinate an Israeli minister?"

Any Israeli operation on Turkish soil akin to the Qatari one would be viewed by Ankara as an act of war. Turkey has vigorously denounced Israel for its Doha strike, after long condemning Israel for its actions in Gaza.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/turkey-netanyahus-crosshairs-harboring-hamas-after-qatar-strike

Glucotrack to Participate in the Q3 Virtual Investor Summit

Glucotrack (Nasdaq: GCTK), a medical technology company specializing in diabetes technologies, has announced its participation in the upcoming Q3 Virtual Investor Summit. Paul V. Goode, PhD, the company's President and CEO, will lead the presentation on Tuesday, September 16, 2025, at 1:30 PM ET.

The event will include a company presentation and one-on-one meetings with investors, providing an opportunity for stakeholders to learn more about Glucotrack's developments in diabetes technology.

https://www.stocktitan.net/news/GCTK/glucotrack-to-participate-in-the-q3-virtual-investor-j110ywztdhtf.html

Charlie Kirk Is the Latest Victim of Assassination Culture

 Charlie Kirk, murdered at an event in Utah Valley University on Wednesday, was one of America’s most influential conservative leaders. He spent his life and career warning about the many social ills afflicting American cities and American society. Six months before he died, he highlighted on X a dangerous trend identified in my colleagues’ research: the alarming rise of assassination culture.

Kirk warned about the incubation of violent norms that the political Left has tolerated for years, observing how over half of left-wing respondents to a survey conducted by the Network Contagion Research Institute saw some justification for killing Donald Trump. Yesterday, Kirk became the latest victim of this assassination culture.

We still know very little about the murder—to say nothing of the gunman, who remains at large as of this writing. It is highly unlikely, though, that such a prominent conservative thought leader was killed for nonpolitical reasons.

Kirk spoke regularly to huge numbers of people on prominent national issues. And that’s what he was doing when the end came, addressing a crowd of perhaps 10,000 college students. According to witness reports, and perhaps in keeping with his belief in open dialogue, he waived security at the entrance to the event.

Though the facts remain to be sorted out, it is quite possible that Kirk’s murder is the latest example of what I and my colleague Zack Dulberg have called “left-wing assassination culture.” In polling we conducted this past March, we discovered that unprecedentedly high numbers of Americans are comfortable with political violence if it aligns with their political position.

Part of this trend, we believe, comes from online echo chambers that circulate memes and imagery celebrating figures like Luigi Mangione. This atmosphere creates a permission structure that incubates such behavior further. We saw it in action after the recent mass shooting at 345 Park Avenue in Manhattan, as voices on social media clamored to justify the murder of corporate executives like Wesley LePatner. We saw it yesterday, too, with assertions that Kirk deserved his murder for being a “fascist,” “Zionist,” or “bigot.”

The United States is an increasingly polarized society, with each side seeing the struggle as a zero-sum game, with defeat meaning obliteration. Left-wing authoritarianism, which justifies upending hierarchies, tearing down the established social order, and enforcing strict censorship, has become a major political force. Luigi Mangione became its first totemic hero, and his figure looms large over this most recent act of deadly political violence.

I write regularly about the rise in left-wing violence and often get asked if I believe it will continue. I’ve been hesitant to make predictions, concerned about misjudging the situation. Perhaps, too, I don’t want to believe that America has arrived in the place that it has.

These illusions can be sustained no longer. Assassination culture is real, and growing. Rest in peace, Charlie Kirk.

Max Horder is a senior fellow at the Network Contagion Research Institute.

https://www.city-journal.org/article/charlie-kirk-assassination-political-violence