STAT+: Guardant Health trial of colon cancer liquid biopsy test disappoints observers
Bay Area biotech Guardant Health on Thursday announced results from a massive trial of its blood-based test for the early detection of colon cancer that, while good enough for Medicare reimbursement, underwhelmed observers.
The company announced that a nearly 13,000-person study, dubbed ECLIPSE, detected colon cancer 83% of the time it was actually there and correctly returned a negative result 90% of the time — characteristics of a test known as sensitivity and specificity, respectively. But those results disappointed market observers, who noted that earlier and smaller studies indicated the test, known as Shield, would spot 91% of colorectal cancer cases and correctly return negative results 92% of the time.
