Early Cancer Detection in Primary Care: Are You Aware of New Blood-Based Multi-Cancer Screening Tools

By Lincoln Nadauld, MD, PhD and Charles Vega, MD, FAAP

Despite significant advances in therapy, cancer continues to impose enormous medical, economic, and social burdens. Each year in the United States, approximately 1700 people die from cancer each day, making it the leading cause of mortality in people younger than 80 years old. The costs of treating cancer, including drugs, hospitalization, and ambulatory care, exceed $157 billion annually. Indirect costs, including lost productivity and absenteeism, add nearly another $100 billion to the tally. Early detection is an essential step in reducing the burdens of cancer. Identifying cancer at its earliest stages improves outcomes by allowing therapy to begin sooner, decreasing treatment costs and complexity, reducing morbidity and mortality, and improving quality of life. Liquid biopsy–based multi-cancer early detection (MCED) tests have been developed to support population-based screening of asymptomatic individuals for dozens of cancer types. This multimedia educational activity has been designed to help primary care clinicians—the most important facilitators of preventive healthcare and cancer screening—understand the technology behind MCED tests, interpret data from clinical trials, engage in shared decision-making to determine which patients should be tested, and plan for follow-up examinations in response to a positive test.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Integritas Communications
• Release date: Apr 19, 2022

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Faculty

Lincoln D. Nadauld, MD, PhD

Vice President

Chief, Precision Health and Academics

Intermountain Healthcare

St. George, Utah

Lincoln Nadauld founded the Intermountain Precision Genomics program with a vision of finding solutions to improve health and disease through genomics and precision medicine without increasing costs. With his vision in mind, he oversees the clinical implementation of precision genomics across Intermountain’s 24 hospitals and 160 physician clinics. Dr. Nadauld serves as Intermountain Healthcare’s Chief Academic Officer. In addition, he facilitates genomic research to better understand the human genome. Dr. Nadauld conceived of and is leading the recently announced Heredigene Population Study—a collaborative effort with deCODE Genetics in Iceland to collect and perform whole-genome sequencing on 500,000 participants in the Intermountain system. Dr. Nadauld’s work in founding Intermountain Precision Genomics was recognized with the Utah Governor’s 32nd Annual Science Medal for Industry, which is the highest civilian award to be bestowed by the state of Utah to honor significant contributions to science and technology. Dr. Nadauld also received the 2020 C2 Catalyst for Precision Medicine award, honoring those who improve personalized treatment for cancer patients. He is married with five children and enjoys attending their many activities and events as well as water sports, fishing, and other athletic pursuits.

Charles P. Vega, MD, FAAFP

Clinical Professor, Family Medicine

Director, UC Irvine Program in Medical Education for the Latino Community

Associate Dean, School of Medicine

University of California, Irvine

Irvine, California

Chuck Vega grew up in Northern California and completed his undergraduate degree at Harvard University. He attended medical school at the University of Wisconsin – Madison and completed residency training in Family Medicine at the University of California – Irvine (UCI). He stayed on as faculty in the Department of Family Medicine at UCI and now holds the title of Health Sciences Clinical Professor. He is the Executive Director of UCI’s Program in Medical Education for the Latino Community and won a Macy Faculty Scholarship to improve patient-centered health education at UCI. He currently serves as Assistant Dean for Culture and Community Education at UCI.

Dr. Vega has seen patients and taught medical students and residents at UCI’s Family Health Center – Santa Ana for the past 20 years. This clinic is a federally qualified health center and the largest safety-net clinic for Orange County. Dr. Vega’s academic interests are focused on access to quality, compassionate medical care