In a CBS News investigation, CBS News Correspondent Jim Axelrod exposed a company marketing a blood test it claims can detect cancer before symptoms appear, while researchers say the Science is years away. The investigative series began today, Feb. 9 on CBS THIS MORNING (7:00-9:00 AM) and continues tonight on the CBS EVENING NEWS WITH SCOTT PELLEY (6:30-7:00 PM, ET) on the CBS Television Network.
In September, Pathway Genomics launched and sold to doctors a $299 test that the company said could "detect a growing tumor in the body before the patient may notice symptoms." The company was recently featured on an episode of the television show "Keeping Up With The Kardashians," and its board includes Newt Gingrich and former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Peter Pace. When Axelrod asked Pathway Genomics CEO Jim Plante about its marketing, however, he dialed back on their claims. He told Axelrod, "We never say it replaces solid tissue biopsy" and that "the information can be used to help guide potential early diagnosis."
Experts say the company may be promising patients more than
Science can yet deliver. One of them is Dr. Max Diehn, a cancer researcher at Stanford University, whose work Pathway cites as evidence its test can detect cancer in otherwise healthy patients. Diehn told Axelrod, "We're still years away from that possibility."
Following the interview with
CBS News, Pathway Genomics removed the marketing video from its website, saying, "We proactively decided to limit some of our marketing activities associated with" the liquid biopsy test.
Watch the report broadcast today on
CBS THIS MORNING:
Chris Licht is the Vice President of Programming, CBS News, and Executive Producer of CBS THIS MORNING and CBS THIS MORNING: SATURDAY.
Steve Capus is the Executive Editor of
CBS News and Executive Producer of the
CBS EVENING NEWS WITH SCOTT PELLEY.
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