Adults 50 and older weighing a $949 cancer blood test face a sharper question as the FDA nears a decision: does it save lives? In an opinion essay published Oct. 6, 2026, a prominent cancer screening researcher argued that the main trial behind Grail's Galleri test did not meet its primary goal and that regulators should not approve it.
The essay, by Dr. H. Gilbert Welch of the Center for Surgery and Public Health at Brigham and Women's Hospital, appeared in STAT's First Opinion section, which publishes commentary rather than news. It came about two weeks after an FDA advisory panel backed the test, leaving families unsure whether to buy it now, wait for a ruling, or skip it.
