by Kathy Ottele, Oregon Capital Chronicle
April 11, 2024
Here in Oregon – like in many parts of America – we are all too familiar with the devastating impact of cancer. Cancer continues to be the leading cause of death in Oregon. According to the American Cancer Society, this disease will claim over 8,000 lives in Oregon this year. Our best tool in the fight against cancer is early detection. We know that catching cancer early dramatically improves your odds of survival.
Sen. Ron Wyden is co-sponsoring legislation to expand access to breakthrough cancer detection tests – tools that can help change this story, helping people find more cancers sooner. The Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act would ensure Medicare can cover the next generation tests for cancer once they are approved by the Food and Drug Administration and shown to have clinical benefit.
Currently, there are screenings for only five cancers – breast, colorectal, cervical, lung and prostate. Multi-cancer early detectiontests have the potential to revolutionize how doctors diagnose and treat cancer, improve quality of life and lower treatment costs. With a single blood draw, these tests can detect dozens of types of cancers at once.
My personal cancer journey is 25 years long, having lost my father, my mother, and my two younger sisters to four different cancers. I am a six-time skin cancer survivor. Somehow along the way, I became cancer phobic, but when I learned of the early detection blood test and the study being done at my local cancer center, I signed up. After giving my medical history and a blood sample, I was told it would be a week or two until the results would be available. When I received the phone call and the voice on the other end said “Kathy, you have no cancer cells in your blood!” You can imagine my feelings: I cried and cried. What a magnificent tool that may help millions find cancer early and survive.
Oregon Health and Science University’s Knight Cancer Institute has conducted robust clinical trials on the new blood test, with research and development of these cancer screening breakthroughs at Compass Oncology of Portland and Tualatin. The research is promising. The challenge is making these life-saving tests available to those who benefit most – seniors covered by Medicare, and especially those living in rural and underserved communities.
As chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee, Wyden has joined about 60 senators and more than 250 House members in bi-partisan and bi-cameral support of the coverage act, bringing it within striking distance of passage.
With a bit of luck and continued support for the research going on in Oregon and across the nation and world, the good news I received will be even more common in the future.
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