Roger’s story
Pancreatic Cancer
Roger lives in Silicon Valley, California. He considered himself healthy and never expected to face cancer. Active and focused on wellness, he believed he was doing everything needed to stay healthy.
Roger first learned about Galleri while traveling. He quickly took action to explore whether this new test could help him.
“I read about the Galleri test in a book, that [there] was actually such a test that could screen for 50 different cancers,” Roger recalled. “I found Galleri online and they connected me with an independent healthcare provider that was able to provide a prescription to get the test. The next thing I knew they took my blood and a week later I got my results.”
Soon after, Roger’s provider called with unexpected news.
“My telemedicine provider called me and informed me that they found a cancer signal with two predictive origins,” he said. “I remember thinking please ‘don’t be pancreas.’”
Further testing confirmed a tumor in his pancreas. One of Roger’s radiologists called just to tell him he was the luckiest person he had ever met, to have detected pancreatic cancer at an early stage.
“He said I never would have had symptoms, I never would have known about this until it was at a much more advanced stage,” Roger recalled.
While the diagnosis was difficult, Roger focused on his daughter and the future they could share when this was behind him.
“When I first got the diagnosis, my first thought was ‘I just want to stay alive long enough to see my daughter graduate high school,’ and it looks very likely I’m going to see her graduate college and probably beyond,” Roger said.
“The Galleri test found this for me really in the nick of time is how I look at it.”
The Galleri test does not detect a signal for all cancers and not all cancers can be detected in the blood. False positive and false negative results do occur. Galleri is a screening test and does not diagnose cancer. Diagnostic testing is needed to confirm cancer.
The overall sensitivity in study participants with pancreatic cancer was 83.7% (61.9% for stage I, 60.0% stage II, 85.7% stage III, 95.9% stage IV).
Important Safety Information
The Galleri test is recommended for use in adults with an elevated risk for cancer, such as those aged 50 or older. The Galleri test does not detect all cancers and should be used in addition to routine cancer screening tests recommended by a healthcare provider. Galleri is intended to detect cancer signals and predict where in the body the cancer signal is located. Use of Galleri is not recommended in individuals who are pregnant, 21 years old or younger, or undergoing active cancer treatment.
Results should be interpreted by a healthcare provider in the context of medical history, clinical signs and symptoms. A test result of “Cancer Signal Not Detected” does not rule out cancer. A test result of “Cancer Signal Detected” requires confirmatory diagnostic evaluation by medically established procedures (e.g. imaging) to confirm cancer.
If cancer is not confirmed with further testing, it could mean that cancer is not present or testing was insufficient to detect cancer, including due to the cancer being located in a different part of the body. False-positive (a cancer signal detected when cancer is not present) and false-negative (a cancer signal not detected when cancer is present) test results do occur. Rx only.
Laboratory/test information
GRAIL’s clinical laboratory is certified under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA) and accredited by the College of American Pathologists (CAP). The Galleri test was developed, and its performance characteristics were determined by GRAIL. The Galleri test has not been cleared or approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. GRAIL’s clinical laboratory is regulated under CLIA to perform high-complexity testing. The Galleri test is intended for clinical purposes.