Sarah Cannon Joins Early Breast Cancer Detection Study

December 7, 2017 |

3 min read

Sarah Cannon, the Cancer Institute of HCA Healthcare, announced today that several of its affiliated programs will participate in a new study, called STRIVE, which focuses on developing a test for early breast cancer detection.

Dec. 7, 2017 11:00 UTC

NASHVILLE, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Sarah Cannon, the Cancer Institute of HCA Healthcare, announced today that several of its affiliated programs will participate in a new study, called STRIVE, which focuses on developing a test for early breast cancer detection. The STRIVE Study is designed to determine if a blood test can complement mammography screenings by identifying genetic material arising from tumors to help discover breast cancer at its earliest stages.

“By participating in this exciting research effort, women in our communities will help scientists in their efforts to develop a test that is intended to enhance our ability to detect cancer at earlier and more treatable stages,” said Dax Kurbegov, MD, principal investigator of the STRIVE Study at Sarah Cannon and Vice President and Physician-in-Chief of Clinical Programs for Sarah Cannon. “The study is designed to help identify tiny fragments of genetic material that may signal the presence of breast cancer, and may help guide healthcare decisions by providing more information and reducing uncertainty.”

The study, sponsored by GRAIL, Inc., is seeking to enroll 120,000 women across participating sites. Women who volunteer to participate will provide a blood sample and complete a short questionnaire at the time of their regular screening mammogram. In addition, participants will be followed and their health records will be monitored for up to five years for new cancer diagnoses.

“Over the last decade, we have begun to better understand the critical role that genetic information plays in how we diagnose and treat cancer, but the way in which we apply such insights into early cancer detection has been limited,” said Howard A. “Skip” Burris III, MD, President of Clinical Operations and Chief Medical Officer at Sarah Cannon. “By participating in this large clinical research study, we are excited to explore the role that blood-based testing may play to assist in early cancer detection and how it may provide an even greater benefit to patients.”

The study will be offered to women undergoing screening mammograms at the following Sarah Cannon locations: TriStar Summit Medical Center and TriStar Centennial Medical Center in Tennessee; Centerpoint Medical Center and Menorah Medical Center in Kansas/Missouri; and Henrico Doctors’ Hospital and Johnston-Willis Hospital in Virginia. New sites are expected to open for enrollment in additional locations.

For more information on the STRIVE Study, to see the list of participating sites or to learn if you might be eligible to join, women can visit JoinSTRIVE.com, email STRIVE@sarahcannon.com or call 1-833-I-STRIVE (833-478-7483).

About Sarah Cannon

Sarah Cannon, the Cancer Institute of HCA Healthcare, offers integrated cancer services with convenient access to cutting-edge therapies for those facing cancer in communities across the United States and United Kingdom. Sarah Cannon’s cancer programs include individualized patient navigation provided by oncology-trained nurses, more than 1,000 stem cell transplants performed annually throughout the Sarah Cannon Blood Cancer Network, hundreds of clinical trials, and molecular profiling capabilities. Through its services, Sarah Cannon is providing state-of-the-art cancer care close to home for hundreds of thousands of patients, a number unmatched by any single cancer center. To learn more about Sarah Cannon, visit sarahcannon.com.

About GRAIL

GRAIL, Inc. is a life sciences 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 trials, and state of the art Computer Science and Data Science to enhance the scientific understanding of cancer biology and develop blood tests for early-stage cancer detection. The company’s funding was led by ARCH Venture Partners and includes Amazon, Bezos Expeditions, Bill Gates, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Celgene, Decheng Capital, GV, Illumina, Johnson & Johnson Innovation, Merck, McKesson Ventures, Sutter Hill Ventures, Tencent, Varian Medical Systems, and other financial partners. For more information, please visit www.grail.com.