MENLO PARK, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–GRAIL, Inc., a healthcare company focused on the early detection of cancer, today announced that new data from the Circulating Cell-free Genome Atlas (CCGA) study will be presented by Minetta Liu, MD, Research Chair and Professor, Department of Oncology, Mayo Clinic, in an oral presentation at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2018 Congress taking place October 19 – 23 in Munich, Germany.
CCGA is a prospective, observational, longitudinal study of approximately 15,000 participants. In the first CCGA sub-study, three prototype genome sequencing assays were used to analyze blood samples from 2,800 participants. Data from approximately 1,800 of these participants were presented earlier this year at the 2018 annual meetings of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).1,2
The new data being presented at ESMO are results from the 1,010 remaining participants from the same sub-study, which were analyzed separately for verification of the initial results. Results between the two data sets were similar, showing the prototype assays consistently detected strong signals in participants’ blood samples at high specificity for multiple cancer types. Slides with detailed results will be posted on GRAIL’s website after the presentation at grail.com/science/publications.
Presentation Details
Abstract 50O
Plasma cell-free DNA (cfDNA) assays for early multi-cancer detection: the Circulating Cell-free Genome Atlas (CCGA) study
Proffered Paper (Oral Presentation): Saturday, October 20, 2018: 9:15 – 9:27 CEST, ICM – Room 14b
About the First CCGA Sub-Study
In this pre-planned sub-study of CCGA, three prototype genome sequencing assays were evaluated as potential methods for a blood-based test for early cancer detection. Blood samples from 2,800 participants (1,628 participants with newly diagnosed cancer who had not yet received treatment and 1,172 participants without a cancer diagnosis) were sequenced with all three prototype assays. Twenty different cancer types across all stages were included in the sub-study. Blood samples from the 2,800 participants were separated into a training set (1,785 participants) and an independent test set (1,010 participants) for verification of the initial results.
The prototype sequencing assays included:
- Targeted sequencing of paired cell-free DNA (cfDNA) and white blood cells to detect somatic mutations, such as single nucleotide variants and small insertions and/or deletions;
- Whole-genome sequencing of paired cfDNA and white blood cells to detect somatic copy number changes; and
- Whole-genome bisulfite sequencing of cfDNA to detect abnormal cfDNA methylation patterns.
About CCGA
CCGA is a prospective, observational, longitudinal study designed to characterize the landscape of cell-free nucleic acid (cfNA) profiles in people with and without cancer. The planned enrollment for the study is more than 15,000 participants across 142 sites in the United States and Canada. Approximately 70 percent of participants will have cancer at the time of enrollment (newly diagnosed, have not yet received treatment) and 30 percent will not have a known cancer diagnosis. Planned follow-up for all participants is at least five years to collect clinical outcomes.
About GRAIL
GRAIL is a healthcare company whose mission is to detect cancer early, when it can be cured. GRAIL is using the power of high-intensity sequencing, population-scale clinical studies, and state-of-the-art computer science and data science to enhance the scientific understanding of cancer biology, and to develop and commercialize pioneering products for the early detection of cancer. The company is located in Menlo Park, California and Hong Kong. It is supported by leading global investors and pharmaceutical, technology, and healthcare companies. For more information, please visit www.grail.com.
1 GRAIL press release, April 17, 2018 https://t.co/IAgPa4azRc
2 GRAIL press release, May 16, 2018 https://t.co/idk2rOdRnK