New blood test helps detect cancer earlier

PATASKALA, Ohio — Most of us don’t think about cancer until it touches our family or until we start feeling symptoms. But for many types of cancer, by then it can already be too late.

What You Need To Know

• A blood test called Galleri caught Kevin McFarland’s esophageal cancer early, even though he had no symptoms or family history
• The test can detect more than 50 cancers, sometimes before they show up on regular scans, but it costs about $1,000 and isn’t covered by insurance
• Early detection saved McFarland’s life, allowing surgery before the cancer spread, and he now calls every day a second chance

A new blood test is starting to change that, and it’s already making a difference for people like Kevin McFarland.

After three decades of running into danger as a firefighter, McFarland is moving at a different pace these days: yardwork, walking his dog and enjoying retirement.

But just a year ago, he didn’t know how much time he had left.

McFarland said he felt strong, with no symptoms or family history of cancer. That’s why he was shocked when a routine blood test found something he never expected: esophageal cancer.

The test is called Galleri. It looks for traces of more than 50 types of cancer, many of them with no standard screenings available. Insurance doesn’t cover it, and the price can reach about $1,000. But McFarland’s fire department pays for every crew member to get tested, and it caught his cancer early.

“The test, 100%. The Galleri test caught my cancer and caught it early enough that surgery was all I needed. I did not need chemo or radiation… and luckily that’s what got it all,” McFarland said.

Dr. Jeffrey Milks, a family physician who uses the test with patients, said that’s exactly the point: finding cancer sooner.

“It’ll give you a positive result, sometimes long before the cancer would be evident,” Milks said.

He said it can detect cancer too small to be picked up on normal scans, which can make all the difference for survival.

“The idea is if we have a tumor that is smaller than a centimeter, the outcomes are much better,” Milks said.

For McFarland, early detection saved his life. It also meant an 11-hour surgery that permanently changed his body.

“They took the lower half of my esophagus out and moved my stomach up into my chest… it gives you reflux all the time,” he said.

Those side effects forced him to retire five years earlier than planned. And while his cancer outcome is rare, he’s grateful it was caught in time.

“Once we go out and talk to my surgeon, I realized that esophageal cancer has a 5% survival rate… if they would have waited… I probably wouldn’t be standing here,” McFarland said.

Now cancer-free, he calls every day a second chance.

“I want to travel a little bit, as long as my health maintains. I want to enjoy my family, my kids… and if there’s something now that I want to go do, I’m just going to go do it,” he said.

McFarland said he’s grateful for the time he has and the test that gave it to him.

Dr. Milks says he most often recommends Galleri for people with a family history of cancer, for smokers and for essential caregivers or business owners. Anyone can request it, but the cost and lack of insurance coverage remain hurdles.