Missouri Baptist is Seeking Participants for a Lung Cancer Screening Clinical Trial

Lung cancer, the third most common cancer in the United States, occurs when cells in the lungs grow abnormally and tumors develop. Smoking is the number one contributing factor of lung cancer, and people over the age of 50 who smoke are encouraged to get a lung cancer screening. Screening is important with lung cancer because people sometimes do not show symptoms until the cancer has progressed to an advanced stage – the sooner lung cancer is detected, the more options a patient has for treatment.

Lung cancer screenings are done via a low-radiation-dose CT scan. Missouri Baptist Medical Center is participating in a clinical trial that will determine if fragments of lung cancer can be detected through a blood sample, also known as a liquid biopsy.

Clinical trials test new treatments for future cures. Participants who volunteer help researchers with new information about diseases and evaluate the effectivity of new treatments. Those same participants will also have access to treatments that are unavailable to the public.

Bryan Faller, MD, Missouri Baptist Medical Center oncologist and hematologist and Jessica Laycock, senior clinical research associate, are facilitating the trial in collaboration with Missouri Baptist cardiothoracic surgeons Michael Mauney, MD, and James Scharff, MD. 

The team is looking for participants interested in helping shape the future of lung cancer care. This study will help future generations.

“Honestly, these people are heroes to me – if it were not for people willing to participate in clinical trials, we wouldn’t have made the great strides in the cancer treatments we have today.” said. Laycock. “It amazes me when people have just gotten possibly the worst news of their lives and they say they want to participate in this trial so they can help other people – what a beautiful and selfless thing to do.” 

Though the amount of radiation exposure in a lung cancer screening is low, liquid biopsies may be a safer and more convenient option. Because it is an early stage trial, participants will not receive the results of their testing and should still undergo traditional cancer screenings.

Missouri Baptist is looking to enroll participants who meet the following criteria:

• Are at least 50 years old, there isn’t an age cap
• Are a current or former smoker
• They could have quit smoking anytime, as long as they have smoking history of at least 20 pack years (pack years are number of packs smoked a day X number of years smoked)
• A person that smoked ½ pack a day for 20 years has only a 10 pack-year history, while a person that smoked ½ pack for 40 years has a 20 pack-year history

If chosen to participate in the trial, a provider will ask you questions about your medical history as well as family health history, draw four vials of blood and follow your health history for a year.

Smoking is the number one contributing factor of lung cancer, accounting for 90% of cases, but other factors that affect diagnosis are secondhand smoke exposure, genetics, radon exposure, and particle pollution.

Remember that the best way to prevent lung cancer is to quit smoking. Check out these resources from the American Lung Association to help you quit smoking.

Email Jessica Laycock at [email protected] for information about participating in the clinical trial.