National Cancer Institute Establishes Research Network To Study Cancer Early Detection Tests

The National Institutes of Health on Wednesday launched a clinical trials research network to evaluate the use of multi-cancer detection tests to help identify cancers early.

The network, called the Cancer Screening Research Network, will initially provide funding through the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to eight institutions to support a pilot study to determine the feasibility of using multi-cancer detection tests in randomized studies. The pilot study, called the Vanguard Study on Multi-Cancer Detection, will enroll up to 24,000 participants to inform the design of a larger, randomized controlled trial. The planned larger trial will explore the potential benefits and harms of using multi-cancer detection tests to screen for cancer and whether the tests can detect cancer early in a way that reduces deaths.