Building Cancerguard and trusting it too

Five years ago, before the Cancerguard^® test ever reached patients, those at Abbott’s cancer diagnostics division spoke often about its promise, the possibility of detecting cancer earlier when treatment is most effective, even curative.

For Allison, that promise was the reason she joined the company.

After years working in professional services, she was looking for something different—something that meant something. When she learned about a Multi-Cancer Early Detection (MCED) test designed to detect multiple cancers from a single blood draw, she knew she wanted to be part of it.

She didn’t know it would end up changing her whole life.

As a communications leader in Abbott’s cancer diagnostics division, Allison joined the team responsible for introducing Cancerguard to the world, helping shape how it would be understood long before most people had ever heard of multi-cancer early detection, or MCED. For months, she lived inside the details, translating complex science into something people could understand.

Having worked so closely with the product, her knowledge of it turned into true belief.

“I believe that Cancerguard test will change the way we think of cancer and how it's diagnosed for the rest of our lives,” said Allison. “I think it's a complete game-changer.”

She had no obligation to take the test. But she cared deeply about what Cancerguard stood for, its promise, and its potential. So she requested the test as soon as it launched in 2025.

“I was anxious to take the Cancerguard test myself, so I truly understood what the experience was… I want to make sure I know firsthand what that experience is like.”

Her results were shocking.

“When I saw the positive Cancerguard test result, I felt like something within me exploded,” said Allison. “I was in disbelief, but at the same time, I believed. I knew the test had a really low false positive rate, and I was actually really happy it worked.”

A positive Cancerguard result means that the test identified a cancer signal in Allison’s blood. A follow-up CT scan revealed a 22-centimeter tumor on her right ovary.

“22 centimeters is big,” said Allison, “We're like talking about a football.”

Her oncologist explained it could be anything from a benign tumor to advanced cancer. She would need surgery to determine exactly what hand she’d been dealt.

The results, again, were unexpected.

The tumor was cancerous, but it was Stage 1 mucinous ovarian cancer. A rare diagnosis. And, critically, an early one.

“The complicated part about mucinous ovarian cancer is, it's resistant to chemotherapy,” said Allison. “When it's found beyond Stage 1, it's really hard to treat. The fact that mine was Stage 1, and they were able to remove it surgically, was really a miracle.”

Though she will need to continue to monitor and follow-up with her oncologist for the next few years, today, Allison is able to call herself cancer-free.

She has since dived right back into work with a renewed sense of purpose.

“When I went back to work, I thought, ‘I'm ready to get after it,’” said Allison. “I'm there, and we are going to let the world know about this test and the impact that it can have.”

“Because if I look back five years ago when I was talking to my friends and family about this test, it sounds like fake news, right? This isn't really going to happen. There's not going to be this test that is a single blood draw that's going to help detect more than 50 cancer types and subtypes. Come on. Well, it's real.”

Allison’s story is, in many ways, extraordinary. But in another way, it isn’t. Because across Abbott’s cancer diagnostics teams, there are people who have spent years building, testing, advocating for, and standing behind Cancerguard—people who understand it not just in theory, but in practice.

And increasingly, some of them are choosing to experience it for themselves—not because they have to, but because they believe in what it can do.

And when that belief becomes personal, it doesn’t just stay with them, it shows up in the way they do their work.

Where the work becomes real

David, a clinical lab associate, and Brandon, a lab leader, work in the Cancerguard lab. Hundreds of samples move through their hands each day, each one carrying the possibility of life-altering news.

They do not take that responsibility lightly—they recognize that every tube represents a person, a family, a future. But tucked away in the lab, the work itself, at times, has felt one step removed.

That is, until Allison walked through the lab doors.

A few months after her diagnosis and treatment, Allison joined in on a tour of the Cancerguard lab, simply looking to show her appreciation for those team members. But the moment would end up being far more powerful.

For David, Allison’s visit reinforced something the team already felt, but couldn’t always see.

“Meeting Allison, hearing her story, it reminded us that it's not just samples that we're dealing with,” said David. “This isn't just some thing. This is somebody's test. There's a patient behind it. You have to remember that.”

The work they had spent years building—validating processes, scaling systems, troubleshooting issues in real time—had quietly reached someone like her. And worked.

That reality has impacted the way Brandon and his lab teammates approach even the smallest steps of their daily processes.

“There’s no such thing as a routine sample,” said Brandon. “In fact, we don’t even call them samples. We call them patients.”

Centering on that noble purpose, that the person on the other end of the result isn’t hypothetical, has David, Brandon, and the rest of the Cancerguard lab driven to deliver results they can stand behind.

And in that way, the mission of the Cancerguard test doesn’t just live in company messaging or marketing. It lives in the repetitive, highly precise work of the lab, where every patient sample is handled as if it matters. Because it does.

Beyond the lab

That same sense of trust and responsibility extends far beyond the lab. For Bryan, the experience of taking the test didn’t change what he worked on, but rather, how he showed up to the work.

As part of the Advocacy and Alliances team, Bryan partners directly with organizations and communities across the cancer space, hearing daily about the realities, fears, and unmet needs patients face.

“I get to meet a lot of patients and survivors and see firsthand the impact of cancer,” said Bryan. “It’s become a very personal issue for me.”

Following a challenging year regarding his own health, including major surgery and a cancer scare, Bryan started viewing Cancerguard and his work on MCED through a new lens. The test became more than something he talked about with others, it became part of how he thought about his own health.

He, like Allison, jumped at the chance to take the test, adding it as another step in being proactive about his health.

“When the opportunity came up, it was a no-brainer,” said Bryan. “Preventive health is at the very top of my list right now.”

Taking the test brought him into a moment he knew intimately from the patients he works with, yet had never experienced. Those “heart-pounding few seconds” before opening his results, which would turn out to be negative, gave him a new perspective.

“You hear people say, ‘I don’t want to know,’ as a reason not to get screened, not to take these tests,” said Bryan. “And going through it myself… I get it. It’s a scary thing.”

That understanding has impacted how he works. Conversations with advocacy partners have become less about explaining the value of early detection and more about acknowledging the hesitation that comes with it.

Bryan’s honest, vulnerable, and passionate approach to his work has opened the doors for larger conversations about MCED and potential future collaborative efforts with major organizations focused on raising awareness of the importance of screening.

“Having taken the test and getting peace of mind afterwards, it makes it easier to talk about,” said Bryan. “I have a role that is very external facing and that is built on trust and authenticity with partners. What better way to build trust and authenticity than being able to speak personally to an experience with one of our own tests.”

Closing the distance

Across every part of Cancerguard’s journey—from the lab to conversations with patients—the same pattern emerges: The closer people are to the work, the more personal it becomes. And the more personal it becomes, the more intentional they are in how they do it.

In the lab, that means treating every sample as a person. In advocacy, it means meeting fear with understanding and trust with experience.

The people behind the Cancerguard test aren’t removed from its impact. They are the ones building it, testing it, questioning it, and, in some cases, choosing to use it themselves.

That changes the work. It raises the bar.

It makes it the best it can be for the people counting on it most.

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Each story reflects an individual’s experience. Not every person will have the same treatment, experience, outcome, or result. The Cancerguard test is prescribed by your health care provider. Talk to your health care provider about available screening options and whether the Cancerguard test may be right for you. There are potential risks associated with the Cancerguard test and it may not be appropriate for all patients. For more information about the risks, talk to your health care provider or visit cancerguard.com/indications-for-use for more information.