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A quiet revolution is happening in cancer screening: a simple blood draw is starting to find what used to hide in plain sight. We sit down with Shane Ryan, CEO of BCAL Diagnostics, to unpack how a Sydney-built breast cancer test is scaling nationwide and why a new exclusive partnership with ClearNote Health could change the game for ovarian and pancreatic detection across Australia and New Zealand.
Shane explains how thousands of donated samples and deep clinician engagement powered BCAL’s breast cancer test from research to real-world use. With Sonic Healthcare enabling local collection close to home, women can access testing without the travel and scheduling hurdles that often delay early screening. From there, we dive into ClearNote’s genomic technology, the high specificity and sensitivity thresholds guiding clinical confidence, and the significance of being selected for the US Vanguard Study—an indicator that the science stands on strong ground.
We also map the road to Q1 CY26: GP and specialist education, laboratory readiness in Sydney, efficient logistics to ClearNote’s California lab, and a results pipeline designed for speed and clarity. The stakes are high—ovarian cancer can reach about 90% five-year survival at stage one, yet overall survival lingers near 49%; pancreatic cancer shows a similar gap, with roughly 80% at stage 1A versus about 13% overall. By making testing accessible and reliable, BCAL aims to move more diagnoses into those early windows when treatment works best.
Finally, Shane shares the 12–18 month plan: accelerate breast test volumes, ramp ovarian and pancreatic launches, and build toward a one‑stop biomarker hub for clinicians, alongside preparation to enter the US breast cancer market. If early detection, practical access, and robust data matter to you or your patients, this conversation brings the strategy into focus. Subscribe, share with a colleague, and leave a quick review telling us which barrier to early screening you want solved next.