A way to detect cancer before it starts
Guardian Research Network collaborates with GRAIL in massive effort to revolutionize detection.
It's one of the largest clinical trial programs ever pursued in genomic medicine, and Guardian Research Network has already contributed more than 350 terabytes of data.
That work is just beginning, as the cancer research collaborative based in Spartanburg, S.C., begins its partnership with an organization dedicated to curing cancer by detecting the disease before it has a chance to take root.
A crucial first step – the building of a massive genetic roadmap, called the Circulating Cell-free Genome Atlas, or CCGA.
The CCGA is spearheaded by GRAIL, Inc., a life sciences company whose investors include Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
GRAIL partners Guardian Research Network and its parent organizations, Gibbs Cancer Center & Research Institute and Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System, with the likes of cancer-fighting powerhouses Mayo Clinic and Memorial Sloan Kettering.
The CCGA is a “landmark study,” Timothy Yeatman, MD, president and chief scientific officer of Guardian Research Network, said.
“Detecting cancer at an earlier stage when it can be cured is an ambitious goal, with the potential for an immeasurable benefit to society,” Yeatman said. “We are proud to support this initiative.”
The effort to gather 10,000 study participants – 7,000 cancer patients, 3,000 healthy individuals – will happen at as many as four dozen clinical trial sites across the U.S.
The Guardian Research Network brings a number of those sites to the table already. Its network consists of health systems in 11 states, including Gibbs Cancer Center & Research Institute and Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System in Spartanburg, S.C.; Baptist Health in Louisville, Ky.; Mercy in St. Louis; and Bon Secours Health System in Marriottsville, Md.
