In 2024, an estimated 153,000 men and women in the U.S. will be diagnosed with colorectal cancer (CRC) and 53,000 people will die from this type of cancer, making it the second leading cause of cancer-related death in the U.S..1 Although CRC is highly treatable when detected at an early stage, more than 50 million people in the United States who are eligible have not completed recommended CRC screening.2
Blood-based testing has significant potential to help close this gap in CRC screening adherence by eliminating barriers associated with other methods, including unpleasant and extensive preparation, disgust with handling stool or burdensome logistics.
Recently, results of a study demonstrating the effectiveness of a blood-based CRC screening test were published in The New England Journal of Medicine, one of the world’s leading medical journals. Our team at SDG Clinical Research led by Andrew Cummins, MD participated in the ECLIPSE (Evaluation of ctDNA LUNAR Assay In an Average Patient Screening Episode) study along with more than 200 other study sites. With more than 20,000 people enrolled in the study, the ECLIPSE trial is one of the largest studies of its kind.
Shield, a blood test for CRC screening developed by Guardant Health, detects CRC signals in the bloodstream from DNA that is shed by tumors, called circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA). The study evaluated the performance of the Shield test in detecting CRC in average-risk adults compared to a screening colonoscopy. Published results showed Shield had 83% sensitivity in detecting individuals with CRC, a result on par with currently available non-invasive CRC screening methods, in which overall sensitivity ranges from 74% to 92%.3
ECLIPSE study “A Cell-free DNA Blood Based Test for Colorectal Cancer Screening” published in The New England Journal of Medicine.
To learn more about Shield, visit bloodbasedscreening.com.
References
1. American Cancer Society National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable. Colorectal Cancer Is A Major Public Health Problem. https://nccrt.org/our-impact/data-and-progress/. Accessed November 9. 2023.
2. American Cancer Society. Colorectal Cancer Facts & Figures 2020-2022. https://www.cancer.org/content/dam/cancer-org/research/cancer-facts-and-statistics/colorectal-cancer-facts-and-figures/colorectal-cancer-facts-and-figures-2020-2022.pdf.
3. Chung, D., et al. A Cell-free DNA Blood-Based Test for Colorectal Cancer Screening The New England Journal of Medicine. 2024: 390:973-983.