By Cheryl Brown
The Desert Sun
May 7, 2021
As anyone who knows me is aware, I spent my days in the state Capitol focused on addressing our state’s senior care crisis. My experience as a family caregiver taught me that one of the greatest obstacles older Americans face in trying to enjoy a lengthy post-retirement has nothing to do with their 401(k) accounts, the stock market, or increases in the cost of living — instead, it is their health.
While financial strain is a formidable barrier, it’s not the most pervasive enemy standing in the way of older Americans enjoying their golden years. Health — or more specifically, the disease that robs so many older Americans of their health, cancer — is a tremendous driver of stress among older Americans. Age is the leading risk factor for cancer, and because of the limitations in our ability to screen for various cancers, too many are dying too early.
We have an opportunity to significantly reduce the number of cancer deaths among older adults, but it’s going to take a combination of science and government action. Medical advances are already taking care of the former, and lawmakers like U.S. Rep. Raul Ruiz, an emergency room doctor by training, are working hard to hold up their end of the equation.
As a result of my standing as a Commissioner for the California Commission on Aging and as a former Assemblymember, I’ve been made aware of a number of new cancer screening technologies being tested at multiple clinical trial sites in California and across the country. Scientists have discovered that cancerous tumors shed DNA particles in the bloodstream, and a blood analysis can identify the location and type of those cancers. A simple blood draw can now provide doctors with the ability to detect more than 50 types of cancer.
This is an enormous leap forward.
Today, there are only five cancers with available early screenings: breast, cervical, colorectal, high-risk lung, and prostate cancer. Unfortunately, more than 70% of all cancer deaths are from types for which we’re unable to screen, such as stomach, liver or bone, just to name three. These new technologies can change that, and it’s impossible to overstate their significance. When cancer is detected early, five-year survival rates are about 90%, but they decline precipitously if the cancer is found at a later stage, when treatments are far less effective.
Making these game-changing technologies accessible will be critical. For seniors, this means ensuring coverage under Medicare. Currently, Medicare cannot easily cover preventative screenings like these, even if the FDA determines that they are safe and effective, unless Congress acts. Ruiz, D-Palm Desert, and several of his congressional colleagues are determined to allow Medicare to cover multi-cancer early detection technologies with the bipartisan Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Act.
It’s tragic that so many seniors have their golden years cut short, defined by the pain and suffering that comes when cancers are caught in later stages. Congress must establish coverage for multi-cancer early detection technologies, as it has done in the past for other cancer screenings. Ruiz knows the benefit of early cancer detection from years of emergency room shifts, where he experienced the wrath of undetected, late-stage cancers firsthand.
My father died of Leukemia because it wasn’t caught in time. I wish he and so many others had access to this test — who knows how many lives could have already been saved.
Cheryl Brown, a former assemblymember for the 47th Assembly District, is a member of the California Commission on Aging. She can be reached at cheryl4212@gmail.com.