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A blood test designed to screen for dozens of different cancers at once just got a big
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boost from an FDA advisory panel. It's called Galeri, and with a single blood draw, it looks for DNA signals linked to more
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than 50 types of cancer. The test is intended for people 50 and older, and in a large study of more than 140,000
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people, it detected about a third of the cancers that were eventually diagnosed
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But there are limitations. The test was much better at finding later-stage cancers than early ones, and FDA reviewers also
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worry a negative result could give some people false reassurance and lead them to skip routine
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screenings. Galeria is already available in the U.S., but it's not yet FDA-approved
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and patients generally have to pay for it themselves. Full approval could make insurance
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coverage more likely. The FDA doesn't have to follow the panel's recommendation and hasn't said
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when it will make a final decision
