Blodd Test for Breast Cancer now Covered by Insurance

jenniferz · 04-29-2008, 11:10 AM

I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this, but I found this on breastcancer.org this morning, and thought I'd pass this information along.

http://www.businesswire.com/portal/s...79&newsLang=en

BT Test for Breast Cancer Now Covered by Insurance
Women pay no out-of-pocket cost for Provista Life Sciences' groundbreaking early breast cancer detection test

PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Provista Life Sciences LLC (PLS) today announced it will file private insurance claims on behalf of women who take the BT Test^TM and cover 100 percent of the test's cost not covered by insurance. The BT Test is a blood test that assists in the early detection of breast cancer. For women who do not wish to submit an insurance claim, the BT Test is now available at a cost of $295.
"We have early indication from private insurance companies that they are able to cover the cost of the BT Test, making it even more accessible to women who previously had to pay out-of-pocket for the test," said Joel Bird, Vice President of Reimbursement Strategies at Provista Life Sciences.
The BT Test, or Biomarker Translation Test, is prescribed by physicians and is used in conjunction with an annual mammogram to assist in making an earlier and more accurate diagnosis of breast cancer. The BT Test finds multiple cancer-related proteins in the blood and combines the results with the patient's medical profile to help physicians find breast cancer as early as possible. When detected early, breast cancer has a 96 percent survival rate.
"With an accuracy rate above 80 percent, the BT Test gives women and their doctors another crucial measure for early breast cancer detection," said Will Gartner, President and CEO at Provista Life Sciences. "We are thrilled to be able to offer more women the opportunity to catch the disease in its treatable phase, when life-saving treatment is most effective."
According to the American Cancer Society, women over the age of 40, especially those at higher risk for breast cancer, should be screened for breast cancer annually. The BT Test is available to all women ages 35 to 75, and is strongly recommended by many gynecologists and breast surgeons for women at heightened risk for breast cancer and those under age 50 whose breast density can make it more difficult for a mammogram to detect the presence of cancer.
The BT Test requires a simple blood draw that is sent to Provista Diagnostics, a CLIA (Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments) registered Reference Laboratory, and a wholly owned subsidiary of Provista Life Sciences, to be analyzed. The results of the breast cancer test are then sent to the prescribing physician to review with the patient.
Provista Life Sciences is currently working with physicians in Arizona to offer the BT Test as part of a comprehensive annual breast health examination and anticipates making the test available to additional markets in 2008. Healthcare providers and women interested in learning more about the BT Test can call 602-224-5500.
http://www.businesswire.com/portal/s...79&newsLang=en

BT Test for Breast Cancer Now Covered by Insurance
Women pay no out-of-pocket cost for Provista Life Sciences' groundbreaking early breast cancer detection test

PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Provista Life Sciences LLC (PLS) today announced it will file private insurance claims on behalf of women who take the BT Test^TM and cover 100 percent of the test's cost not covered by insurance. The BT Test is a blood test that assists in the early detection of breast cancer. For women who do not wish to submit an insurance claim, the BT Test is now available at a cost of $295.
"We have early indication from private insurance companies that they are able to cover the cost of the BT Test, making it even more accessible to women who previously had to pay out-of-pocket for the test," said Joel Bird, Vice President of Reimbursement Strategies at Provista Life Sciences.
The BT Test, or Biomarker Translation Test, is prescribed by physicians and is used in conjunction with an annual mammogram to assist in making an earlier and more accurate diagnosis of breast cancer. The BT Test finds multiple cancer-related proteins in the blood and combines the results with the patient's medical profile to help physicians find breast cancer as early as possible. When detected early, breast cancer has a 96 percent survival rate.
"With an accuracy rate above 80 percent, the BT Test gives women and their doctors another crucial measure for early breast cancer detection," said Will Gartner, President and CEO at Provista Life Sciences. "We are thrilled to be able to offer more women the opportunity to catch the disease in its treatable phase, when life-saving treatment is most effective."
According to the American Cancer Society, women over the age of 40, especially those at higher risk for breast cancer, should be screened for breast cancer annually. The BT Test is available to all women ages 35 to 75, and is strongly recommended by many gynecologists and breast surgeons for women at heightened risk for breast cancer and those under age 50 whose breast density can make it more difficult for a mammogram to detect the presence of cancer.
The BT Test requires a simple blood draw that is sent to Provista Diagnostics, a CLIA (Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments) registered Reference Laboratory, and a wholly owned subsidiary of Provista Life Sciences, to be analyzed. The results of the breast cancer test are then sent to the prescribing physician to review with the patient.
Provista Life Sciences is currently working with physicians in Arizona to offer the BT Test as part of a comprehensive annual breast health examination and anticipates making the test available to additional markets in 2008. Healthcare providers and women interested in learning more about the BT Test can call 602-224-5500.

AlaskaAngel · 04-30-2008, 01:24 PM

Hi Jennifer,

It sounds interesting. I have always thought that instead of routinely recommending a repeat mammo or ultrasound in "x" months because the breasts are simply too dense to be able to see cancers, it hasn't been more common to at LEAST try offering the patient the choice of having a breast cancer marker done like a CA 15-3 or a CA 27.29 -- even though they aren't always reliable indicators.

Here's another blood test that sounds interesting, like your article:

http://www.englandseastmidlands.com/News.aspx?ID=176

I notice that neither of these blood tests state that they can be used for early detection of recurrence by those who have already had bc.... They seem to be used just for initial detection but they don't specifically say anything about detection of recurrence.

AlaskaAngel

jenniferz · 04-30-2008, 04:11 PM

Hi Alaska Angel,

There is a site http://www.provistals.com and there is a link to contact these people. I think I'll ask my drs. to contact them and see what they can find out. Or, maybe I'll take the plunge and do it myself. At any rate, check out this site and see what you can find out. I haven't had much time to look at it.

Jennifer

jenniferz · 05-01-2008, 05:58 PM

Alaska Angel,

I did email and got a response from Dr. Louis Kirby at Provista Life Sciences in Arizona today. Below is his response.

Dear Jennifer,

Good question. While I see no reason it wouldn't, we have no data to support that. What we do think, however, is the test should be as able to catch a second primary tumor as well as it can identify the first. We know that women with a history of breast cancer are at increased risk for a second tumor and that may be the best way to think of it.

The condition for using the test is that you have to be about 3-6 months past any chemo, radiation, or surgical procedures as well as off immuno-suppresant medications. Relaxifine and tomoxafin are probably OK.

Best,

Louis

Louis Kirby, MD
Chief Medical Officer
Provista Life Sciences LLC
www.ProvistaLS.com

Would you know what he means by "immuno-suppressant". I know WHAT it means, but don't know which ones they are. Do AI's fall into this category?

Jennifer

Jackie07 · 05-01-2008, 08:16 PM

Our local TV channel was broadcasting this news. I couldn't remember how to post a new thread, so I attached it to this one since they are somewhat related.

"If one UT researcher has his way, early breast cancer detection will one day happen in the dentist's chair, during a routine oral screening. That's the dream of saliva researcher Charles F. Streckfus, DDS, of The University of Texas Dental Branch at Houston.
The tissues of the salivary glands and the breast are very similar, explains Streckfus, professor in the Department of Diagnostic Sciences and one of a handful of salivary researchers around the globe looking for cancer markers in saliva. His research and clinical trials have resulted in a method for pinpointing breast cancer with a simple saliva sample. The test, not yet approved for marketing, would mean early treatment for women when the disease is most curable, he believes, and quickly would determine if the disease had returned after treatment. "It's pretty simple," explains Streckfus, who has conducted saliva research at Johns Hopkins University and the National Institute of Craniofacial Research, among other places. "You just chew a piece of gum and spit into a cup. That's it. This could be done by dentists as part of a routine oral exam."
Saliva tells a big tale

Streckfus got the inspiration to research breast cancer and saliva from an experiment at the National Cancer Institute in the 1980s. It's well established "that mice have breast cancer a lot," he says, which explains why cancer research is often done on mice. The NCI experiment involved removing the salivary glands from the mice, resulting in an 80 percent reduction in breast cancer.
"That's what tipped me off," says Streckfus. But while he's coming up with groundbreaking work on saliva and breast cancer, saliva research in general isn't new. In recent years scientists have learned that saliva can reveal the presence of diseases and conditions that once were monitored only by analyzing blood, urine and other fluids. Streckfus says that one fellow researcher refers to saliva as "the mirror to the body. It can mimic what's going on." Over the past 10 years, research such as that by Streckfus has led to new diagnostic tools and therapeutic options. Saliva is easy to collect and economical to transport and researchers now have the technology to detect salivary proteins which presents new opportunities for diagnosis and treatment of disease.
Technological advances allow for a wider range of measurement of molecular components in saliva and for comparison to blood and urine components. Micro organisms, chemicals and immunologic markers in saliva are now easier to study, no longer relegating its uses to oral health alone. It now has its place as a diagnostic tool for overall health. The saliva test Streckfus developed for determining early breast cancer, for example, could also be set up "as a screening device in dental offices for a number of other types of cancers," he says.
Partner, not replacement of mammogram

Meanwhile, though his saliva test for breast cancer has great potential, it wouldn't replace the dreaded mammogram. "You still need to find out in which breast it (the malignancy) is located, and that's where mammography helps," he explains. But for mammography to be fully effective in detecting very early cancers, it must be done more frequently, even every three months, according to one Harvard researcher, Streckfus reports. The cost of four mammograms a year would be prohibitive, of course, not to mention the additional exposure to radiation and the test's relative discomfort
. A saliva test, on the other hand, would be painless and inexpensive. A very important part of the whole idea, Streckfus adds, is the built-in appointment--"an intrastructure where patients see their dentists every six months. This is something the medical profession doesn't have." So, how soon can we expect to see our dentists for breast cancer screening? "I'm optimistic," he says. "Conservatively, within 10 years. It's all (a matter of) resources," which is the big reason Streckfus came to UT-Houston. "You have all the resources of the Texas Medical Center in one area, with the best equipment and technology in the country. This is where I need to be to complete this project. "