PALO ALTO, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Guardant Health, Inc. (Nasdaq: GH), a leading precision oncology company, has announced support for an investigator initiated study led and conducted by The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James) to evaluate patient compliance with a blood-based test for colorectal cancer (CRC) screening. In this study, The Ohio State University Guardant Shield Colorectal Cancer Screening Project, individuals from minority and underserved populations aged 45 and older who are in need of CRC screening will have the option to receive the Shield blood test, administered by a mobile phlebotomist, as part of their engagement with a community health van. Integrating Shield into mobile health services will allow health care providers to bring blood-based screening directly to communities making it accessible for eligible individuals who are not compliant with CRC screening.
Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer related death in the United States.1 Although CRC screening has been shown to improve survival rates, one in three adults have not completed the recommended CRC screening.2,3 The Appalachian region’s cancer mortality rate is 10% higher than the national average, and the region has higher than average incidence and mortality rates for colorectal cancer specifically.4,5 Over 40% of the Appalachian population is rural, compared with 20% of the national population, and residents are more likely to have lower incomes, lower levels of education, higher poverty and unemployment rates, and poorer health than their non-Appalachian counterparts.