Why screening matters
Cancer is most curable when it's small and contained. Regular, personalized screening finds new or recurrent cancer early — so it can be treated at low volumes, with gentler treatment and better outcomes. Screening is the first step in our Screen. Treat. Survive. Repeat.™ philosophy.
The future of screening: multi-cancer early detection (MCED)
Most cancers still have no screening test at all. Of the many cancers that shorten lives, routine screening exists for only a handful — breast, cervical, colorectal, lung and prostate. Everything else is usually found because someone noticed a symptom, by which point the disease is often no longer small and contained.
Multi-cancer early detection (MCED) is the attempt to change that arithmetic. A single blood draw is analysed for fragments of cell-free DNA shed by tumours. Rather than reading the DNA sequence, these tests read its methylation pattern — the chemical marks that differ between healthy tissue and cancer, and that differ again between organs. That second property is what makes the approach interesting: a positive result can also predict where in the body the signal came from, which is what turns a blood test into an actionable next step rather than an alarm with no address.
The best-known example is the Galleri test, developed by GRAIL, which predicts up to two likely cancer signal origins from among roughly 21 possibilities. It has been studied in the PATHFINDER cohort study in adults over 50, and is under evaluation in the NHS-Galleri randomised controlled trial, which enrolled more than 140,000 people aged 50–77 in England who had no known cancer. The manufacturer positions the test for adults at elevated risk — in practice, generally those aged 50 and over.
What is honestly known, and what is not. MCED testing is genuinely promising and it is genuinely unproven. No MCED test is FDA-approved, none is recommended by the USPSTF, and none has yet been shown in a completed randomised trial to reduce cancer deaths — that is precisely the question NHS-Galleri was built to answer, and the answer is not in. These tests are sold as laboratory-developed tests, are typically not covered by insurance, and carry the two costs every screening test carries: a false positive sends a well person through a diagnostic workup, and a false negative can wrongly reassure. An MCED result does not replace mammography, colonoscopy, low-dose CT, cervical screening or a skin exam. It is an addition under study, not a substitute.
CureRays® follows this field closely because it sits exactly where our model sits — Screen. Treat. Survive. Repeat.™ If a blood test can move a cancer's discovery earlier by even one stage, everything downstream gets gentler. Ask our team whether MCED testing makes sense alongside your guideline-based screening, and what it would and would not tell you.
Informational only, not medical advice — confirm with your care team. Sources: NHS-Galleri trial design (PMC9564213) · Clinical referral following NHS-Galleri results (PMC12096138) · Systematic review of MCED tests for population screening
CureRays® Medicine: the full screening and survivorship service line
- Comprehensive cancer screenings — a plan built around your personal and family history, prior diagnoses and risk factors
- Personalized cancer survivorship — intensified surveillance and toxicity management after treatment
- SkinIO — AI- and dermatologist-reviewed full-body photography
- Ultrasound-guided skin cancer biopsy (UGSCB) — targeted sampling of suspicious lesions
- Cryotherapy of pre-cancerous skin lesions — treating actinic damage before it becomes cancer
- Medical management of osteoarthritis
- Medical orthopedics for fibrosis and mobility
- Medical management of thyroid dysfunction
- Management of cancer-induced vascular injury
- Clinical trials and innovative investigations — including emerging blood-based early detection
Screening & early-detection services
- Comprehensive cancer screenings tailored to your risk
- SkinIO: AI- and dermatologist-based full-body skin photography
- Detailed skin mapping to track lesions over time
- Ultrasound-guided skin-cancer biopsy (UGSCB)
- Cryotherapy of pre-cancerous skin lesions
Personalized to your risk
Your screening plan is built around your personal and family history, prior diagnoses, and risk factors. For cancer survivors, screening is intensified to detect any recurrence as early as possible — part of a lifelong partnership to keep cancer away.
Take the first step
Schedule a screening or ask which services are right for you.