overgenomen info ivm Cologuard, de snel groeiende cash cow van MDXH:
Another promising advancement was the Food and Drug Administration approval of Exact Sciences' (NASDAQ: EXAS ) Cologuard, a diagnostic used to detect colorectal cancer or advanced adenomas. Patients using Cologuard send a stool sample in packaging provided by the company to Exact Sciences labs. The company's technology then examines the sample for abnormal DNA, which is shed from the walls of the colon.
If abnormal DNA is detected, the patient will then be referred to a physician for a colonoscopy. Exact Sciences' Cologuard wasn't perfect -- it correctly identified 92% of colorectal cancer patients and 42% of advanced adenomas -- but it's a major step up from the previous noninvasive colorectal cancer disagnosis kit.
Numerous other diagnostics that have recently hit the market are designed to personalize the treatment process should a patient already be diagnosed with cancer. Biomarker tests for the KRAS mutation, PDL1 expression, and EGFR mutation, are just some of the tools physicians are using to ensure that patients get the best possible treatment for their particular cancer type.
Clearly, we'd like to see more studies on what leads to cancer development so drug and diagnostic developers can do their best to get one step ahead of cancer development. We're not there yet, as evidenced by the rising rate of cancer incidence. However, the improvement in overall survival that we've witnessed across most cancer types during the last three-plus decades suggests that educating the public, providing cutting-edge diagnostic tools, and personalizing the treatment process, is having a positive impact on survival rates for a majority of cancer patients.