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SearchCCGA study to apply high-intensity sequencing to build a database for cancer biology
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Cleveland Clinic has joined a multi-center clinical trial aimed at developing a blood test to detect cancer early. The Circulating Cell-free Genome Atlas (CCGA) study is recruiting 10,000 patients throughout the U.S. to build a database for cancer biology.
The observational CCGA study will enroll at least 7,000 cancer patients and 3,000 non-cancer individuals to develop models for distinguishing cancer from non-cancer. The Cleveland Clinic Center for Clinical Genomics team and primary investigators Eric Klein, M.D., and Mikkael Sekeres, M.D., M.S., will recruit more than 1,000 Cleveland Clinic patients over the age of 20.
“The complex nature of cancer makes it difficult to identify biomarkers for detection of early-stage cancer before symptoms appear,” said Dr. Sekeres, vice chair for clinical research at Cleveland Clinic’s Taussig Cancer Institute. “The CCGA study will expand our knowledge about genomic profiles in cancer patients and shed new light on the biology of cancer at its initial stages.”
The study, funded by GRAIL, Inc., will collect biological samples from donors with a diagnosis of cancer (blood and tumor tissue samples) and from donors who do not have a diagnosis of cancer (blood samples) to characterize the population variation in cancer and non-cancer subjects. The research team will use deep sequencing of cell-free nucleic acids (cfNAs) in the blood, an emerging biomarker for earlier cancer detection, to potentially develop a detailed atlas of cancer genetics.
“Genomics and personalized medicine are the path forward for treating cancer,” said Dr. Klein, chair of Cleveland Clinic’s Glickman Urological & Kidney Institute. “The CCGA study aims to develop models which distinguish people with and without cancer with a long-term goal of detecting cancers before symptoms even occur. When cancer is diagnosed at an early stage and is highly localized, it is much more easily treated and cured.”
For participation, subjects will complete a health questionnaire, have a one-time blood draw, and allow study staff to collect information from their medical records for five years. In addition, subjects with cancer will also allow study staff to collect tumor tissue from their biopsy or surgery that would otherwise not be used.
“Clinical trials are crucial for medical innovation. This study marks an exciting frontier in clinical research – large cohort recruitment across multiple specialty areas. The Center for Clinical Genomics is proud to be part of Cleveland Clinic’s evolution in clinical research,” said W. H. Wilson Tang, M.D., medical director of the Center for Clinical Genomics, which is carrying out the study operations.
For more information, go to: https://goo.gl/d3mwQf. Or contact the Center for Clinical Genomics CCGA study team at 216-445-2164 or CCGAStudy@ccf.org.
Cleveland Clinic is a nonprofit multispecialty academic medical center that integrates clinical and hospital care with research and education. Founded in 1921 by four renowned physicians with a vision of providing outstanding patient care based upon the principles of cooperation, compassion and innovation, Cleveland Clinic has pioneered many medical breakthroughs, including coronary artery bypass surgery and the first face transplant in the United States. Cleveland Clinic is consistently recognized in the U.S. and throughout the world for its expertise and care. Among Cleveland Clinic’s 83,000 employees worldwide are more than 6,600 salaried physicians and researchers, and 21,900 registered nurses and advanced practice providers, representing 140 medical specialties and subspecialties. Cleveland Clinic is a 6,725-bed health system that includes a 173-acre main campus near downtown Cleveland, 23 hospitals, 300 outpatient facilities, including locations in northeast Ohio; Florida; Las Vegas, Nevada; Toronto, Canada; Abu Dhabi, UAE; and London, England. In 2025, there were 15.9 million outpatient encounters, 343,000 hospital admissions and observations, and 336,000 surgeries and procedures throughout Cleveland Clinic’s health system. Visit us at clevelandclinic.org. Follow us at x.com/CleClinicNews. News and resources are available at newsroom.clevelandclinic.org.
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