More information on Guardant Health’s Shield blood test, now included in CRC screening guidelines

The American Cancer Society (ACS) announced the addition of Guardant Health’s Shield blood test to its recommended tests in its colorectal cancer screening guidelines yesterday. Guardant Health shared more information about the test in a press release.

Shield is now a screening option “for patients who decline or have not completed stool-based or visual examination screening tests.”

What to know about the test:

• It only requires a single blood draw.
• It is “a methylation partitioning cell-free DNA (mp-cfDNA) non-invasive, blood-based screening test that detects alterations associated with colorectal cancer in the blood.”
• It is “the first and only FDA-approved blood test for primary colorectal cancer screening in average-risk adults age 45 and older.”
• Patients can undergo the test at their routine doctor’s visits.
• It raises colorectal cancer screening participation.
• It showed 100% sensitivity in diagnosing cancers stage II and higher in the ECLIPSE study.
• In addition to its inclusion in ACS’s guidelines, it is also listed in the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines.
• Those at high-risk for colorectal cancer should not use this test as their primary screening method.

Regarding ACS’s updates, Guardant Health co-CEO, AmirAli Talasaz said “We know that tragically cancer does not wait. The Shield blood test has been proven to be effective in detecting cancers and increasing screening participation in the real-world setting. By making colorectal cancer screening more accessible with a blood-based option in conjunction with other established methodologies, we can get people screened.”