Khloé Kardashian’s skepticism may have been warranted. CBS News is investigating the cancer test that was recently featured on Keeping Up With the Kardashians. According to researchers, such a test, created by Pathway Genomics, is actually years ahead of current medical science.
The company, which administered DNA tests on Kris Jenner and Kim, Kourtney and Khloé Kardashian, claims that their test can “detect a growing tumor in the body before the patient may notice symptoms.”
Dr. Max Diehn, a cancer researcher at Stanford University, however, tells CBS News that “we’re still years away from that possibility.”
During the interview, which aired on Tuesday, February 9, on CBS This Morning, Pathway Genomics CEO Jim Plante clarified the company’s claims. “We never say it replaces solid tissue biopsy,” Plante told CBS News correspondent Jim Axelrod. “It’s an additional tool in the toolbox.”
On the January 17 episode of KUWTK, the company tested the reality stars’ blood and declared they were all cancer-free. Jenner wanted her daughters to get tested because of their genetic history. Jenner’s mother, M.J. Shannon, is a survivor of breast cancer, and the former family patriarch, Robert Kardashian, died of esophageal cancer at age 59 in 2003.
“You give them a little bit of blood … and they can see if you’re predisposed to cancer,” Jenner explained to her daughters, later telling the camera, “It would be great if my kids would get tested to see if they carry any of the genes for cancer, because if [they do], then at least we can be prepared and do something about it.”
Watch the clip above for more from CBS News’ investigation.
