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Supporting Innovative Research


The Alliance’s mission is to end colorectal cancer in our lifetime. By supporting innovative colorectal cancer research by top doctors and scientists, we take important steps toward realizing our vision — a world free of this disease.

Click on a type of research below to see who is using our funding to accelerate treatment, prevention, and a cure. 

Research Focus: Prevention

Dr. Megan Hitchins, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Diagnostic Performance of Plasma-Based Methylated Circulating DNA Markers to Detect Colorectal Cancer Under 50 Years Old

Study Description: Dr. Megan Hitchins is developing a “minimally-invasive” blood-based screening test for the early detection of colorectal cancer in people under 50 years old. The team has developed assays capable of detecting ctDNA markers at potentially very low levels in blood, with the ultimate aim of producing a screening test that includes a panel of the best-performing ctDNA markers.  This research has led to two papers and numerous grants, including a multi-million dollar grant from the National Cancer Institute.

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