A new, groundbreaking cancer screening will be at the Mid-Ohio Valley Medical Group at the Grand Central Mall. (Photo Provided)

PARKERSBURG — The Mid-Ohio Valley Medical Group at WVU Medicine Camden Clark will be the host site for a new, groundbreaking cancer screening in partnership with GRAIL LLC, the WVU Cancer Institute and the WVU Department of Family Medicine.

The process will provide existing primary care patients screening for 50 types of cancer.

Participating patients will be screened with a simple blood draw through a multi-cancer early detection blood test called Galleri. The test is being offered to limited patients as part of the larger clinical real-world evidence study known as REFLECTION.

REFLECTION will enroll about 35,000 healthy participants from an array of clinical settings across North America. Of those, 1,000 will come from select WVU Medicine Primary Care locations around the state.

The study’s goal is to assess the perception and performance of the Galleri test among both providers and patients as part of routine medical care.

Local patients will have the opportunity to participate in the Galleri testing on the MAVERICK mobile clinical trials unit on Sept. 27, Oct. 1, Oct. 9 and Oct. 17. Appointments on the mobile testing unit will be available from 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Mid-Ohio Valley Medical Group at 800 Grand Central Mall.

Appointments must be scheduled in advance as walk-ins will not be accepted. Patients of area-based WVU Medicine Primary Care locations should contact their providers to discuss participation.

“The WVU Cancer Institute is excited to participate in the REFLECTION study,” Dr. Hannah Hazard-Jenkins, director of the WVU Cancer Institute and co-investigator on the study, said. “Our hope is that we will, over time, improve access to life-saving cancer screening beyond the five current cancers for which we screen.”

Participation in REFLECTION will provide real-world data as to the ability to use an MCED mechanism for the detection of up to 50 types of cancer to reduce the cancer mortality in the state and region, she said.

Of the more than 50 types of cancers for which the test screens, 45 lack any recommended screening tests. The Galleri test also can help determine where in the body a cancer may be located, which can help guide diagnostic follow-up. Previous results indicate that the test has a low false positivity rate of less than 1%.

The test is being provided in addition to and not in place of current recommended cancer screenings. All participants should continue to follow screening recommendations given by their provider. Eligible patients must be 22 and older, receive care through a participating WVU Medicine Primary Care location and not undergo active cancer treatment to participate in the study.

“The Department of Family Medicine is excited by the opportunity to collaborate with the WVU Cancer Institute, WVU Medicine Internal Medicine, and GRAIL to bring the REFLECTION study to West Virginia,” Courtney Pilkerton, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor with the WVU School of Medicine and principal investigator on the study, said. “In primary care, part of our mission is to identify disease at the earliest possible stage to provide the patients we serve with the best opportunity for the least invasive curative treatments. The Galleri® test is a blood screen for over 50 types of cancer that we hope will provide a simple addition to currently available screenings for early cancer detection.”