Researchers with the Virginia Cancer Screening Research Network are looking for participants for a study that’s putting a new way of screening for cancer to the test.
Through the Vanguard Study, they will determine if multi-cancer detection tests can effectively screen for 10 different types of cancer, including breast, prostate and lung. The study is open to people across Virginia who are between 45 and 75 years old and haven’t been diagnosed with cancer in the past five years.
The VCU Massey Center states that it wants to include people who don’t usually take part in research studies.
“Many of those folks are also the people most in need of cancer screenings,” said Dr. Alex Krist, a co-principal investigator for the Virginia CSRN. “So while this is a study to answer a question, we also want to use it as a way to promote cancer screening in Virginia.”
He added, “What it will lead to nationally is a national trial that will hopefully conduct the definitive test on if this works or doesn’t work.”
If you’re interested in participating in the study, you can fill out the subject interest form. Please note that it is a three-year process.
“They submit a survey, and we collect a blood sample. We repeat that again in a year, repeat the blood sample, do another survey about their health and what they have done for cancer screening, and then a year after that, there is just a survey,” Krist said.
The goal is to enroll 2,000 Virginians. If the tests are proven effective, a national trial will follow.
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