Devices that find cancer cells in blood get a faster path to market

US health regulators just made it easier to bring devices that detect cancer cells in blood to market. These devices will now face fewer regulatory hurdles, which should speed up their availability to patients.

New medical devices that detect serious diseases often face the highest level of regulatory scrutiny. This meant a long, expensive approval process, even for promising technologies. This rule shifts devices that find circulating tumor cells into a lower-risk category, which should cut development costs and speed up patient access.