This works particularly well for cancers with recurring mutational patterns (like KRAS mutations in pancreatic cancer), since that lets you affordably do ultra-deep sequencing of small regions of the genome. If you had to deep (>5000x coverage) sequencing of many megabases then (with currently available platforms) the diagnostic wouldn't be affordable.

early detection is great, if you're being specifically checked for cancer. the problem is that you can have tumors growing inside you for years, and during that time, the effects of those tumors may lead your doctor to misdiagnose the problem. And by the time those tumors make themselves painfully obvious, you've got Stage 4 cancer which is pretty much a death sentence.

In the US you can order your doctor to arrange a cancer screening for you (scan or blood test), if you are worried you may have cancer. It's your money, after all. In other countries such as Canada, that's not so easily done. You're at the mercy of whatever doctor you've ended up with, and that doctor is not going to do anything for you unless it makes sense to him.

This has basically been my experience, anyhow. Thanks to my doctor's inaction I have maybe 6 months to live.

I am extremely sorry to hear :(

Have you thought about trying an immunotherapy? I've seen some impressive outcomes.

I had to look up what immunotherapy is... not sure if it would do much good in my case, because I don't have much of an immune system at this point. I've already quit chemotherapy.. think I went 6 rounds before 'throwing in the towel'. Seems pointless to postpone what is inevitable, but I can understand how some might want to hang on.. particularly if one is married and with children.

How do you tell the difference between slow growing cancers and fast growing cancers?

EG: for many men the treatment for prostate cancer has severe side effects and their cancer is something they would have died with, not of. Being able tell which cancers are slow or fast would improve many lives.

One idea: if you have a biomarker you can track via CTCs or ctDNA, then you could watch the rate at which that marker's availability increases.

The PSA doubling time for indolent prostate cancers can often be measured in years, whereas CA 19-9 doubling time for pancreatic cancer is more often measured in days or months.