The University of Illinois Chicago will be the first site in the state to participate in a national study of a clinical test that screens for a shared cancer signal in a sample of patient blood. Beginning this fall, the University of Illinois Cancer Center and the UI Health Mile Square Health Center will enroll patients 50 years and older of average health in the PATHFINDER 2 trial led by the biotechnology company GRAIL.
The Cancer Center brings to the study a uniquely diverse patient population where nearly four out of five participants in clinical trials come from underrepresented groups. The trial also offers patients at Mile Square, a federally qualified health center providing primary care to underserved populations, the opportunity for screening with this new multi-cancer detection technology.
Multi-Cancer Screening Blood Test
“We are giving economically vulnerable racial and ethnic minorities access to cutting-edge diagnostics that they wouldn’t have access to otherwise,” said Darlene Kitterman, director of clinical trials at the Cancer Center.
The trial will assess GRAIL’s Galleri blood test, which screens for a cancer signal shared by more than 50 types of cancers. Many of these diseases, such as pancreatic and blood cancers, do not currently have recommended screening tests and often go undetected until later stages when they start causing severe symptoms and may be harder to treat.