You can join the study by navigating to the study sign up page here. You may also contact the study team at EQUALstudy@dfci.harvard.edu.

Participating in EQUAL may help researchers learn information regarding their blood test's ability to screen for a common type of EGFR lung cancer. It will also help researchers learn about individuals' perceptions of lung cancer screening and their concerns, perspectives, and experiences related to undergoing lung cancer screening with EQUAL'S blood test, in order to optimize this blood test for early detection practices in the general population.

If you do test positive with our blood test, we may be able to treat you early for lung cancer, before the disease spreads. We will also connect you to a healthcare provider for lung cancer management at your preferred institution.

Group 1: Non-tobacco using (currently), 50–80-year-olds, who self-identify as East Asian (including Southeast Asian) or Latinx.
• East Asian includes those who self-identify as Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Taiwanese, Malaysian
• Southeast Asian includes those who self-identify as Cambodian, Thai, Vietnamese, Filipino
• Latinx includes those who self-identify as a person of Central or South American and the Caribbean including, Cuban, Puerto Rican, and Dominican culture or origin, excluding individuals originating from Spain.

Group 2: Non-tobacco using (currently), 40-49-year-olds, who self-identify as East Asian (including Southeast Asian) or Latinx, if any of the following criteria are met:
• Family history of any EGFR mutant LC
• Personal history of remote cancer that is not lung cancer or other thoracic malignancies, including thymoma, thymic carcinoma, or sarcoma, as long as it was resolved over 5 years ago
• History of tuberculosis, asthma requiring daily inhaled corticosteroids or chronic bronchitis
• Symptoms of lung cancer for the past month, including hemoptysis, unexplained weight loss, voice hoarseness, cough or worsening cough, dyspnea or worsening dyspnea
• Able to complete and understand the study’s informed consent in English, Chinese simplified, Chinese traditional, Portuguese, Cape Verdean, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, or Vietnamese (blood test and optional survey participation) and able to complete and understand the study’s informed consent and participate in a focus group in English, Mandarin, Vietnamese, or Spanish (optional focus group participation).

The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute EQUAL study is enrolling patients into a research study that collects a blood sample and survey data, in order to understand the feasibility of using a new blood test to screen for a common type of EGFR lung cancer among historically marginalized East Asian and Hispanic populations at risk for the disease, and who would otherwise be ineligible for routine lung cancer screening .EQUAL also seeks to explore how these populations perceive lung cancer screening and our new blood test, to improve early detection practices in the general population.

You will be assigned a unique study ID number, which is not the same as your hospital record number or social security number. Your biological specimens would also be assigned a unique code. Any material that we share with others will be supplied with the code numbers only, and without your name, hospital record number, or social security number. All study information will be stored in locked file cabinets and in password-protected computer files. Only authorized study personnel will have access to these files. Importantly, your personal information and biospecimens collected by participating in the EQUAL study will not be used for any future research after the study is complete.

Follow this link to reset your password. 

Yes, please do! If you have interested friends or family members, please have them contact the study team at EQUALstudy@dfci.harvard.edu.

You will be in the EQUAL research study until you have either tested negative for the specific type of EGFR lung cancer that our blood test is evaluating, or until you have been diagnosed with lung cancer and connected to a lung cancer care team for disease management as a result of our blood test. If you choose to participate in the optional InAdvance study, you will be in the InAdvance study up until progression to active symptomatic disease that requires therapy. After progression, you will be followed for survival and disease status. You may inform your doctor that you no longer wish to participate at any time and your decision will not affect the care you receive.

You will be compensated with a $50 gift card if you choose to provide a blood sample to screen for EGFR-related lung cancer. If you decide to participate in the optional EQUAL study survey, you will receive an additional $40. If you decide to participate in the optional focus group, you will receive an additional $100. You will not be compensated if you choose to participate in the optional InAdvance Study. Researchers of this study may use your samples and information to develop a new product or medical test to be sold. The sponsor and hospital may benefit if this happens. There are no plans to pay you if your samples are used for this purpose.

Taking part in this research study may not directly benefit you. However, the information gained from your participation will likely help researchers learn information regarding the EQUAL study blood test's ability to screen for EGFR lung cancer, as well as participants' perceptions of lung cancer screening and their concerns, perspectives, and experiences related to undergoing lung cancer screening with EQUAL's blood test. 

If you do test positive with our blood test, we may be able to treat you for EGFR-related lung cancer early, before the disease spreads. We will also connect you to a healthcare provider for lung cancer management at your preferred institution. 

The specific mutation that our blood test will evaluate is called EGFR, which is often found in non-tobacco using, East Asian or Hispanic individuals who are not eligible for lung cancer screening with our current guidelines. In EQUAL, we plan to use our blood test to specifically identify EGFR L858R and exon 19 deletions, which comprise the majority of EGFR-related lung cancers. 

Survey and focus group data helps us understand East Asian and Hispanic individuals' percpetions of lung cancer screening and the concerns, perspectives, and experiences that influence study participants' choices in using this blood test for lung cancer screening. This will help researchers optimize EQUAL's blood test to improve early detection options for lung cancer.

In research, there is power in numbers. The more participants that join a particular research study, the stronger the results will be when researchers analyze data collected from the study. This is especially true when we are seeking to evaluate the feasibility of a new test, such as the blood test deployed in EQUAL.

If you choose to provide two tubes of blood for screening of EGFR-related lung cancer, your personal information and biospecimens collected will not be used for any future research after the EQUAL study is complete. If you choose to participate in the optional InAdvance study, your  personal information and/or biospecimens collected during this study may be stored and used for future research.  Any personal identifiers will be removed, before they are shared, so that the information or samples cannot be linked back to you.

Investigators, including investigators from collaborating institutions, can request this data and samples for new research.  Samples and data may also be shared with outside non-profit academic investigators as well as with for-profit pharmaceutical investigators or commercial entities, with whom we collaborate.

Future research studies from InAdvance may include genetic research.  Your genes are unique to you.  At this time, you cannot be identified through this research, if the samples and specimens are de-identified.  There is a risk that you might be reidentified in the future as genetic research progresses..

You will be given a copy of your blood test results after your blood-based screening test, either through an emailed or mailed letter from the study team (if the result was negative) or through a phone call in which your treating provider and/or the principal investigator will call you (if the validation blood test result was positive, to coordinate follow-up CT imaging scan and connect you with an outpatient cancer diagnostic clinic for further evaluation). Any clinically meaningful research results from participation in the EQUAL study, such as a confirmed positive test result or CT imaging results, will become part of your medical record and be accessible to you and available for review by caregivers with access to your protected health information. If you decide to participate in the optional InAdvance study, in most cases, you will not receive any results from InAdvance. In certain situations, return of research results may be permissible.  Other approved research results may be returned to you after specific clarification that these results are at a research level only and are not for clinical use or for action for clinical decisions.

You will be asked to provide information about your medical history and tobacco use history in order to determine eligibility and provide the research team with basic health information . If you choose to participate in the optional EQUAL survey or focus group, questions will pertain to understanding your perceptions of lung cancer screening and your concerns, perspectives, and experiences of undergoing lung cancer screening by using our blood test. 

You have the right to withdraw your permission for the research doctors and participating DF/HCC entities to use or share your protected health information.  We will not be able to withdraw all the information that already has been used or shared with others to carry out related activities such as oversight, or that is needed to ensure quality of the study. To withdraw your permission, you must do so in writing by contacting the study team at the information found in the "contact us" page.

The sponsor of this study is Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Your specimens and health information regarding participation in the EQUAL study will be available to researchers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and its participating satellite institutions, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Massachusetts General Hospital, who have approval from the Institutional Review Board governing this research to use your samples and health information. 
 
All specimens and data collected will be saved in HIPAA compliant software and meet the privacy and secure standards set by institutions involved. Data will be de-identified prior to analysis.
 
Medical information created by EQUAL may become part of your hospital medical record and may be forwarded to your primary doctor. For example, your CLIA-approved positive test result and CT scan result might be placed in your medical record, if you test positivie for EGFR lung cancer with our EQUAL blood test. Information that does not become part of your medical record will be stored in your study file, but your personal information and biospecimens collected will not be used for any future research after the study is complete. If you choose to participate in the optional InAdvance study, your personal information and/or biospecimens collected during this study may be stored and used for future research. Any personal identifiers will be removed, before they are shared, so that the information or samples cannot be linked back to you. As a result, we will no longer be able to identify and destroy them. Investigators, including investigators from collaborating institutions, can request this data and samples for new research. Samples and data may also be shared with outside non-profit academic investigators as well as with for-profit pharmaceutical investigators or commercial entities, with whom we collaborate. You will not be asked to provide additional informed consent for the use of your de-identified information or samples in future research. Future research studies may include genetic research. Your genes are unique to you. At this time, you cannot be identified through this research, if the samples and specimens are de-identified. There is a risk that you might be reidentified in the future as genetic research progresses.

You may contact the study team at EQUALstudy@dfci.harvard.edu.

Taking part in this research study may not directly benefit you. However, the information gained from your participation will likely help researchers learn information regarding the EQUAL study blood test's ability to screen for EGFR lung cancer, as well as participants' perceptions of lung cancer screening and their concerns, perspectives, and experiences related to undergoing lung cancer screening with EQUAL's blood test.  

If you do test positive with our blood test, we may be able to treat you for EGFR-related lung cancer early, before the disease spreads. We will also connect you to a healthcare provider for lung cancer management at your preferred institution.

When obtaining a blood specimen, a blood draw can cause minimal risks such as pain, bleeding, and bruising. Additionally, when screening for EGFR-related lung cancer, there is risk of "false positive" or "false negative" results. This means that positive result might not mean you have cancer, or a negative result might miss existing lung cancer. Lastly, though all data will be kept in a secure location, there is the potential loss for confidentiality.