EQUAL: EGFR ctDNA QUantative Assessment for Lung Cancer Screening in Asian and Latinx Populations (EQUAL)

July 14, 2026 updated by: Narjust Florez, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

This research study is studying a new blood test to screen for Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) positive lung cancer in healthy individuals at risk for the disease and who cannot undergo regular lung cancer screening.

The name of the test used in this research study is:

-Circulating free DNA (cfDNA) Assay

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

The goal of this research study is to evaluate the feasibility of a novel EGFR blood plasma ctDNA screening test among East Asian and Latinx participants at risk for lung cancer and ineligible for regular lung cancer screening. The test looks for a gene change called Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR), specifically EGFR L858R and exon 19 deletions, which comprise 85-90% of total EGFR mutations. This study seeks to determine if it is possible to use the blood test to detect this type of lung cancer that might not yet show symptoms.

The research study procedures include screening for eligibility, in-clinic visits, blood tests, and an optional questionnaire and/or focus group.

It is expected that about 1000 people will participate in the blood sample collection, 100 individuals in the survey, and 20 individuals in the focus groups.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
1000

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Massachusetts
      • Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 02215
        • Recruiting
        • Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
        • Contact:
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Narjust Florez, MD
      • Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 02215
        • Not yet recruiting
        • Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
        • Contact:
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Daniel Costa, MD, PhD
      • Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 02215
        • Not yet recruiting
        • Massachusetts General Hospital
        • Contact:
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Lecia Sequist, MD, MPH
      • Brighton, Massachusetts, United States, 02135
        • Not yet recruiting
        • Dana-Farber Cancer Institute at Steward St. Elizabeth's
        • Contact:
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Alys Malcolm, MD
      • Methuen, Massachusetts, United States, 01844
        • Not yet recruiting
        • Dana-Farber Cancer Instiute Merrimack Valley
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Pedro Sanz-Altamira, MD
        • Contact:
      • South Weymouth, Massachusetts, United States, 02190
        • Not yet recruiting
        • Dana-Farber Cancer Institute South Shore
        • Contact:
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Shail Maingi, MD

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria (Aims 1, 2, and 3) for Group 1 (50 through 80 years of age):

  • Non-tobacco using (currently)
  • Self-identify as East Asian (including Southeast Asian) or Hispanic/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
  • Aims 1 and 2: Able to complete and understand the study's informed consent in English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Spanish, Portuguese, or Cape Verdean
  • Aim 3: Able to complete and understand the study's informed consent and participate in a focus group in English, Mandarin, Vietnamese, or Spanish.

Inclusion Criteria (Aims 1, 2, and 3) for Group 2 (40 through 49 years of age):

  • Non-tobacco using (currently)

  • Self-identify as East Asian (including Southeast Asian) or Latinx, if any of the following criteria are met:

    • Family history of EGFR positive LC L858R or exon 19
    • Personal history of remote cancer that is not LC or other thoracic malignancies, including thymoma, thymic carcinoma, or sarcoma, as long as it was resolved over 5 years ago
    • History of TB, 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
  • Excluding individuals who concurrently present with fever, covid/influenza/RSV/adenovirus infection, runny nose, sore throat, productive cough with green or yellow sputum
  • Aims 1 and 2: Able to complete and understand the study's informed consent in English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Spanish, Portuguese, or Cape Verdean
  • Aim 3: Able to complete and understand the study's informed consent and participate in a focus group in English, Mandarin, Vietnamese, or Spanish.

Exclusion Criteria (Aims 1, 2, and 3) for Groups 1 and 2:

  • Having had a chest CT scan in the last 3 years or having an anticipated chest CT scan during the enrollment period.
  • Having a current cancer or history of cancer within the last 5 years, excluding localized non-melanoma skin cancer and breast ductal carcinoma in situ.
  • More than 400 lifetime cigarettes (i.e., 20 packs) of smoking or tobacco use
  • Adults unable to provide informed consent
  • Individuals <40 years of age
  • Prisoners
  • Pregnant women
  • Personal diagnosis of lung cancer
  • Not able to be compliant with study requirements

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Screening
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: ctDNA Assay

All participants will be asked to provide blood samples and are administered a baseline questionnaire. The blood sample will be tested using the investigational ctDNA assay. If the investigational test is positive, these participants will be followed up by CLIA verification of results. A positive CLIA result will be followed up by a lung CT scan. A positive CT scan will be followed up by referral for further evaluation. A negative CT scan will be followed up by a repeat scan in 12 months. Participants will be notified of results.

Additionally, participants may participant in optional studies: 1) One-time survey regarding perception of lung cancer screening and ctDNA testing, 2) Virtual focus group, 3) Blood banking study
Device: Circulating Tumor DNA (ctDNA) Assay
Screening investigational blood test to test for EGFR L858R and exon 19 deletions, which comprise 85-90% of total EGFR mutations. A positive or indeterminate investigational test will be followed up by CLIA verification of results. A positive or indeterminate CLIA result will be followed up by a lung CT scan. A positive CT scan will be followed up by referral for further evaluation. A negative CT scan will be followed up by a repeat scan in 12 months.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Detection Rate of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer
Time Frame: 2 years
The proportion of participants with a positive assay result who are subsequently diagnosed with lung cancer through clinical pathology, among all participants tested with the assay.
2 years

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Testing Turnaround Time
Time Frame: Up to 2 years
The duration from the time of blood draw to the release of the ctDNA testing results to the study team.
Up to 2 years
Recruitment Acceptability
Time Frame: Up to 2 years
Determining proportion of screened patients who are eligible and who consent to the trial at each collaboration site
Up to 2 years
Barriers to Sample Acquisition
Time Frame: Up to 2 years
Examining barriers impeding scale-up of sample collection, handling, and delivery
Up to 2 years

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
Massachusetts General Hospital
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Boston Medical Center

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Narjust Florez, MD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
April 1, 2025

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
September 1, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
September 1, 2030

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
November 29, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
November 29, 2024

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
December 4, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
July 15, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
July 14, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
July 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 24-415

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

The Dana-Farber / Harvard Cancer Center encourages and supports the responsible and ethical sharing of data from clinical trials. De-identified participant data from the final research dataset used in the published manuscript may only be shared under the terms of a Data Use Agreement. Requests may be directed to: [contact information for Sponsor Investigator or designee]. The protocol and statistical analysis plan will be made available on Clinicaltrials.gov only as required by federal regulation or as a condition of awards and agreements supporting the research.

IPD Sharing Time Frame

Data can be shared no earlier than 1 year following the date of publication

IPD Sharing Access Criteria

Contact the Belfer Office for Dana-Farber Innovations (BODFI) at innovation@dfci.harvard.edu

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • STUDY_PROTOCOL
  • SAP

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

Yes

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

Yes

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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