Caris Life Sciences is signing up Hollywood legend Kevin Costner to break down the importance of early cancer detection—and add blood test Caris Detect to the equation—in a new national campaign focusing on the calculations of cancer survival outcomes.
The campaign, called “Math,” is Caris Detect’s first since it launched in July. The multi-cancer early detection (MCED) blood test spots cancer-associated molecular signals in the bloodstream by combining ultra-deep DNA and RNA analyzing with advanced AI, allowing for a sweeping view of key molecular patterns. This differs from the standard approaches that look at a limited set of biomarkers, Caris explained in a Sept. 8 release.
“Math” sees Costner in a classroom setting writing out cancer survival rates on a chalkboard. Stage one cancer can have a survival rate of over 90%, while the stage four disease setting can have vastly different outcomes with survival rates often below 10%, the actor explains. The variable between these two different paths for the same disease, Costner says in the 60-second spot, is “time.”
As the actor walks through the halls of a school, emphasizing that Caris Detect “is not luck” but rather an advanced early detection breakthrough, the school hallways blur into a tunnel dotted with visualizations of genes and DNA strands. Costner’s voiceover continues over a lab scene of researchers using the blood test
“In my mind, early detection is simple,” Costner says as he now walks through the lab set-up. “Earlier equals better. Every single time.”
Costner attributed his work with Caris to the company’s “commitment to helping people get information earlier” and its “belief that science and technology can help change what's possible,” he said in the release, adding that cancer has impacted “so many families, including people I know and care about.”
Caris’ CEO and founder David Dean Halbert, meanwhile, pointed to Costner’s “authenticity, credibility, and ability to connect with people across generations,” which could inspire more people to “take a proactive approach” to their health.
"Early detection remains one of the greatest opportunities to save lives,” Halbert commented. "With Caris Detect, we are applying decades of leadership in molecular science and artificial intelligence to help create a future where cancer may be detected earlier, when treatment options are broader and survival rates are improved.
In a “beyond the commercial” follow-up video, Halbert and Costner sit down on set to further discuss the partnership. Costner explains that while he is “asked to do a lot of these things,” he was particularly touched by Caris’ product and its mission.
“I felt like I was a part of something that I should be,” the “Yellowstone” actor added before gifting Halbert a signed cowboy hat, which Halbert, a “life-long Texan” himself, was very proud of, he said.
Upon launch, Caris emphasized that its goal for Caris Detect was to “replace other outdated screening methods as the new standard of care for early detection of cancer.”
The blood test joins the company’s collection of marketed diagnostics, including its Cancer Seek assay and Caris Assure plasma blood test, and is meant to complement routine cancer screenings. Caris pulled off an IPO worth $494.1 million last year in its Nasdaq debut.