Summary: ClearNote Health’s Avantect Multi-Cancer Detection Test was chosen for the NCI’s Vanguard Study to assess the feasibility of multi-cancer detection technologies in early cancer screening.
Takeaways:
- NCI Vanguard Study Selection: The Avantect Multi-Cancer Detection Test was one of two technologies selected by the National Cancer Institute for its pilot study on multi-cancer detection.
- Innovative Technology: The Avantect test uses 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) and genomic biomarkers in cell-free DNA to detect early cancer development and identify the likely tissue of tumor origin.
- Impact on Cancer Detection: This study aims to evaluate the feasibility of using noninvasive blood tests in large-scale clinical trials, potentially driving broader adoption of early cancer detection technologies.
ClearNote Health, a company focused on improving early detection for some of the deadliest cancers, announced that its Avantect Multi-Cancer Detection Test was selected for the Vanguard Study funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health. The Avantect Multi-Cancer Detection Test was one of two tests selected after a thorough evaluation of emerging multi-cancer detection technologies.
A Study for Multi-Cancer Detection
The Vanguard Study aims to address the feasibility of using targeted multi-cancer detection tests in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) designed to assess the clinical benefit of cancer detection, possibly in the early stages, through noninvasive blood tests.
Early cancer detection is an important contributor to positive patient outcomes. In several cancers, patients whose cancer is detected in the earliest stages, before it has grown too big or spread to other organs, have significantly higher survival rates than patients diagnosed with late-stage cancer. The oncology community is increasingly interested in early detection tests, either for a single cancer or for multiple types of cancer at once.
For a more thorough evaluation of early cancer detection with emerging technologies, NCI has launched the Cancer Screening Research Network (CSRN). Its first effort will be to conduct the Vanguard Study, a pilot study of targeted multi-cancer detection tests. The CSRN involves nine geographically diverse clinical trial hubs that will enroll up to 24,000 total participants for the Vanguard Study to assess the feasibility of using multi-cancer detection tests in future RCTs.
The Avantect Multi-Cancer Detection Test
The Avantect Multi-Cancer Detection Test is a simple blood test to screen for cancer in asymptomatic, generally healthy persons. It was designed to detect some of the deadliest types of cancer by profiling both the epigenomic biomarker 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) and genomic features in cell-free DNA. Unlike conventional methods, ClearNote’s 5hmC-based approach provides a specific signal of early cancer development by measuring changes in active biology. This enables detection of the presence of cancer along with its likely tissue of tumor origin.
Further Reading
“Being selected for this critical study after a rigorous, objective technology benchmark evaluation by the NCI is a huge validation for our company, our proprietary technology platform, our employees, and the patients we serve,” says Dave Mullarkey, CEO at ClearNote Health. “The Vanguard Study will showcase the many benefits of early cancer detection, which will help drive widespread adoption of our Avantect technology and ultimately save lives.”
