New Guardant Health/Harris Poll Survey Highlights Patient Fear and Anxiety as Major Barriers to Colorectal Cancer Screening, but Blood Test Option Offers Hope for Change
- 93% of primary care providers believe patients are less likely to avoid screening if presented with an FDA-approved blood test option
- March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month
- Shield is first blood test approved by FDA as a primary screening option for CRC
Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH), a leading precision oncology company, today announced the results of the second annual "Closing the Gap: CRC Screening Insights" survey, which showed that nine out of ten physicians surveyed are concerned about the percentage of their patients who do not complete colorectal cancer (CRC) screening. In many cases, this is due to patient fear and anxiety, but a blood test option offers hope to increase screening rates.
Conducted by The Harris Poll, Guardant's annual survey of American patients and physicians is released during Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month to assess Americans' understanding of the importance of CRC screening and the perceived barriers that may cause them to delay or avoid completing recommended screening. The survey polled 1,000 American adults (referred to as patients) ages 45-84, along with 350 physicians (250 primary care providers and 100 gastroenterologists).*
More than one out of three eligible Americans – over 50 million people – are not up to date with CRC screening, often due to the perception that traditional methods - colonoscopy and stool tests - are unpleasant or inconvenient.1 In fact, this year's survey noted that fear and anxiety about the process is growing, providing one possible reason for the persistent CRC screening gap:
- Close to a third of patients report feeling fear or anxiety about the CRC screening process — an increase compared to February 2024 (29% vs 22%).
- Similarly, 82% of gastroenterologists believe fear or anxiety is a barrier to their patients completing CRC screening – also up from 2024's survey (82% vs. 67%).
- Having a quicker, easier, more pleasant screening option (vs. traditional methods) is a top motivating factor for staying up to date on CRC screenings. In fact, compared to a year ago, more Americans – now 1 in 4 – say that traditional screening tests do not make it easy to screen for CRC (24% vs 18%).
- 93% of primary care providers and 86% of Americans believe patients are less likely to avoid or delay CRC screenings if they are presented with an FDA-approved blood test option.
"This year's survey conducted by The Harris Poll confirms that one reason millions of Americans may avoid recommended CRC screening is fear and anxiety about the process. But there is also promising news: the vast majority of physicians and patients believe avoiding screening is less likely if patients have an FDA-approved blood test option," said Craig Eagle, M.D., Guardant Health chief medical officer. "The Shield™ blood test can be completed at any routine healthcare visit and requires no preparation, no invasive procedure, and no handling of your own stool. Offering patients the more pleasant, convenient option of a blood test has the potential to improve CRC screening rates and ultimately save more lives."
CRC is highly treatable when caught in early stages, yet it is the second-leading cause of cancer-related death in the U.S., responsible for an estimated 53,000 deaths in 2024.2 While clinical guidelines recommend Americans at average risk for CRC begin routine screening at age 45,3 more than three out of four individuals who die from CRC are not up to date with their screening.4
Additional ‘Closing the Gap: CRC Screening Insights' 2025 Survey Findings
- 92% of Americans say they would be more satisfied with their wellness visit if their provider offered an FDA-approved blood test as an option for a CRC screening.
- 92% of Americans also say they would be more likely to get a colonoscopy if they had a positive result on a blood screening first.
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Despite being more concerned about CRC and feeling at higher risk, People of Color (POC) are less likely to have been screened (63% vs. 72% of white people).
- According to the American Cancer Society, Black people are about 20% more likely to get CRC and about 40% more likely to die from it than most other racial and ethnic groups in the U.S.5
Shield is the first blood test to be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a primary screening option for CRC. It is intended for adults age 45 and older at average risk for the disease and can be ordered by any prescribing healthcare provider. For more information about the Shield test, visit ShieldCancerScreen.com.
About Guardant Health
Guardant Health is a leading precision oncology company focused on guarding wellness and giving every person more time free from cancer. Founded in 2012, Guardant is transforming patient care and accelerating new cancer therapies by providing critical insights into what drives disease through its advanced blood and tissue tests, real-world data and AI analytics. Guardant tests help improve outcomes across all stages of care, including screening to find cancer early, monitoring for recurrence in early-stage cancer, and treatment selection for patients with advanced cancer. For more information, visit guardanthealth.com and follow the company on LinkedIn, X (Twitter) and Facebook.
About The Harris Poll
The Harris Poll is a global consulting and market research firm that strives to reveal the authentic values of modern society to inspire leaders to create a better tomorrow. It works with clients in three primary areas: building twenty-first-century corporate reputation, crafting brand strategy and performance tracking, and earning organic media through public relations research. One of the longest-running surveys in the U.S., The Harris Poll has tracked public opinion, motivations, and social sentiment since 1963, and is now part of Stagwell, the challenger holding company built to transform marketing.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws, including statements regarding the potential utilities, values, benefits and advantages of Guardant Health's liquid biopsy tests or assays, which involve risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from the anticipated results and expectations expressed in these forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations, forecasts and assumptions, and actual outcomes and results could differ materially from these statements due to a number of factors. These and additional risks and uncertainties that could affect Guardant Health's financial and operating results and cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements made in this press release include those discussed under the captions "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operation" and elsewhere in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, and any current and periodic reports filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission thereafter. The forward-looking statements in this press release are based on information available to Guardant Health as of the date hereof, and Guardant Health disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements provided to reflect any change in its expectations or any change in events, conditions, or circumstances on which any such statement is based, except as required by law. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing Guardant Health's views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.
* The Harris Poll conducted the survey on behalf of Guardant Health in December 2024. It included over 1,000 U.S. Adults aged 45-84 (referred to as patients), 250 Primary Care Physicians and 100 Gastroenterologists. Data are weighted where necessary by age, gender, race/ethnicity, region, education, marital status, household size, employment, and household income to bring them in line with their actual proportions in the population. Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in surveys. The sampling precision of Harris online polls is measured by using a Bayesian credible interval. For this study, the sample data is accurate to within ± 4.1 percentage points (U.S. Adults aged 45–84), ± 6.7 percentage points (primary care physicians) and ± 9.7 percentage points (gastroenterologists) using a 95% confidence level.
References
- Rich T, Raymond V, Lang K. Where are we today? Efforts to understand strategies and barriers to physician issuance of a recommendation for colorectal cancer screening: a systematic review. Gastroenterology. 2020;158(6 suppl 1):S-918. doi:10.1016/S0016-5085(20)32981-4.
- American Cancer Society. Cancer Facts & Figures 2024. https://www.cancer.org/content/dam/cancer-org/research/cancer-facts-and-statistics/annual-cancer-facts-and-figures/2024/2024-cancer-facts-and-figures-acs.pdf. Accessed February 19, 2025.
- American Cancer Society. Guideline for Colorectal Cancer Screening. https://www.cancer.org/cancer/types/colon-rectal-cancer/detection-diagnosis-staging/acs-recommendations.html Accessed February 19, 2025.
- Doubeni, C, et al. Modifiable Failures in the Colorectal Cancer Screening Process and Their Association with Risk of Death. Gastroenterology. 2019 Jan; 156(1): 63–74.e6.
- American Cancer Society. Colorectal Cancer Rates Higher in African Americans, Rising in Younger People. https://www.cancer.org/cancer/latest-news/colorectal-cancer-rates-higher-in-african-americans-rising-in-younger-people.html Accessed February 19, 2025.
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