Cutting-edge cancer tests to be available to military, their families

Thanks in no small part to the support of North Carolina’s Congressional delegation, multicancer early detection testing now will be available to active-duty military, National Guard and Reserve members, retirees and their families. 

North Carolina has one of the largest active-duty military and veteran populations in the nation and is home to the single largest military base by population, among numerous other military installations. The health and well-being of this community and their families is integral to the state and NCLifeSci member companies. We thank the administration and Defense Department for their support of this access to innovative cancer detection. 

While we’ve seen major advances and progress in dealing with cancer, early detection is critical to successful treatment. When cancer is detected early, the odds of survival are roughly four times higher at a much lower cost of treatment. The decision to cover multicancer early detection, or MCED, testing under the military’s TRICARE health insurance illustrates the commitment of the Defense Department to improving patient outcomes and reducing the financial burden of late-stage cancer diagnoses. 

The Galleri test from GRAIL, an NCLifeSci member located in Research Triangle Park, will be covered by TRICARE. GRAIL has invested significantly in North Carolina, operating one of the largest integrated systems for complex molecular testing in the country. GRAIL’s Galleri test detects DNA fragments circulating in the blood and uses a machine-learning algorithm to determine whether those DNA fragments originate from healthy cells or cancer cells and predicts the most likely origin of the cancer. 

NCLifeSci has also been a strong supporter of the Medicare Multicancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act, which is co-authored by Rep. Richard Hudson and co-sponsored by Sen. Ted Budd, Sen. Thom Tillis, Rep. Don Davis, Rep. Alma Adams, Rep. David Rouzer, Rep. Greg Murphy, Rep. Deborah Ross and Rep. Valerie Foushee and was co-sponsored by former Reps. Jeff Jackson, Wiley Nickel and Kathy Manning. We and hundreds of other endorsing stakeholder organizations are hopeful that the legislation will be enacted into law, providing Medicare the authority to review evidence and cover multicancer early detection, bringing this exciting new technology to even more Americans.