"Possible Cancer Risk" Notified to Hundreds... Later Admitted "Sent by Mistake"

US Company Diagnosing Cancer Through Blood Tests
Incorrectly Notifies Over 400 People of 'Cancer Possibility'

American biotech company Grail, which developed the 'Galleri Test' capable of early detection of dozens of types of cancer through blood tests, sparked controversy after sending incorrect mail to hundreds of patients stating they "may have a risk of cancer."

According to The New York Times on the 4th (local time), Grail issued a statement apologizing for sending incorrect mail to 408 patients due to a software issue with PWN Health, a telemedicine company contracted by them. They emphasized, "The error did not occur in the Galleri test results themselves, leading to incorrect notifications."

[Image source=Pixabay]

Grail immediately contacted customers who received incorrect results and stated that no patient health information was disclosed or leaked externally due to this incident. They also added that the software issue on PWN Health's side has now been resolved.

According to Grail, more than half of the customers who received the incorrect letters had not yet undergone blood collection for testing.

Meanwhile, the Galleri Test developed by Grail analyzes the blood of test subjects to detect cancer by identifying unique DNA released from malignant tumors. The company promotes that Galleri can detect over 50 types of cancer before symptoms appear.

Last year, researchers at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York released clinical trial results of the Galleri Test, announcing that among clinical trial volunteers aged 50 and older who tested positive, cancer was actually found in 38% of them. In one clinical trial volunteer, breast cancer and uterine cancer were detected simultaneously.

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