Mercy Patients Participate in Nationwide Cancer Study

SPRINGFIELD, Mo., May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Could small amounts of genetic material in the bloodstream be used to detect cancer in its earliest stages?

A current study underway at Mercy Hospital Springfield and 73 health centers across the US, including Cleveland Clinic and Mayo Clinic, is helping to answer that question. They're working with GRAIL, a life sciences company, to collect blood samples from 7,000 newly-diagnosed cancer patients and 3,000 participants without cancer nationwide. Mercy Hospital Fort Smith and Mercy Hospital Joplin join the study on May 17, 2017.

GRAIL will analyze the blood samples and map them – looking for what's common among cancer patients that makes them different from those without cancer. The ultimate goal is to detect cancer in its earliest, most curable stage, and put an end to diagnoses that leave little hope for patients and families.

"Our approach will produce more than a terabyte of data per individual," said Jeff Huber, chief executive officer of GRAIL. "We'll create datasets of a scale and complexity that are unprecedented in genomic medicine."

The hope is that researchers can use the information to find patterns of cancer that can be detected in the blood, before the tumors advance.

It's a lot of technical science, but for Mercy patient Larry Coale, participating is a way to help others after his own esophageal cancer diagnosis. "All I did was contribute some blood," he said. "I figured if that could help other people someday, then I was willing."

Dr. Mohan Tummala, Mercy oncologist and hematologist, says that's exactly what this study will do. "This represents the future of cancer diagnosis and treatment," he said. "Treatments that we are currently using are the result of research we worked on 10 years ago. This has the potential for immeasurable benefit, and we hope to see huge leaps in cancer research in the next five to 10 years."

It's why Larry's wife, Kathy, agreed to participate in the study as part of the control group of those without cancer. "My husband's treatment was based on other patients who agreed to be part of research, and we're just so grateful to them," she said. "I'm amazed at the research that's been done and I can't wait for more. We wanted to help get everyone closer to a cure."

SOURCE Mercy