Detection of Early lung Cancer Among Military Personnel (DECAMP)

The purpose of this work is to develop and validate molecular biomarkers found in blood, tissues, or other bodily fluids, which may be used for the early detection of lung cancer among military personnel and veterans. Over the course of the sixth year of this award, we have made significant progress towards enrollment in both clinical trials, including the addition of two new recruitment sites. We have recruited 75 of the 500 total subjects in the indeterminate pulmonary nodule study Protocol 1,and 60 of the 800 total subjects in the longitudinal screening study Protocol 2. We have also added a junior faculty pulmonary physician and scientific program manager to supplement the leadership of this project. Additionally, the Leadership, Steering, Adjudication, Biostatistics, Imaging and Biomarker Committees continue to meet regularly. Most notably, significant progress has been made in adjudication of cases and controls within DECAMP1 which will facilitate the validation of our cancer biomarkers. We have also made significant progress towards discovering novel molecular biomarkers for lung cancer detection in the end bronchial biopsy and nasal brushing samples. Finally, we continue to identify additional funding sources to both supplement infrastructure support within DECAMP and pursue additional biomarker studies.