Cancer
Implementation of Biospecimen Collection in the NCI Connect for Cancer Prevention Study Stephanie Weinstein* Stephanie Weinstein Erin Schwartz Kathleen Wyatt Michelle Brotzman Norma Diaz-Mayoral Amanda Black Hannah Yang Paul Albert Laura Beane-Freeman Amy Berrington Jonas De Almeida Jonine Figueroa Montserrat Garcia-Closas Nicole Gerlanc Gretchen Gierach Rena R. Jones Peter Kraft Charles Matthews Habib Ahsan Brisa Aschebrook-Kilfoy Chun-Hung Chan Robert T. Greenlee Stacey Honda Ben Rybicki A. Blythe Ryerson Katherine Sanchez Mark Schmidt Kevin Sykes Larissa White Jeanette Ziegenfuss Stephen Chanock Mia M. Gaudet Christian Abnet Nicolas Wentzensen
Introduction
The Connect for Cancer Prevention Study is a new prospective cohort aiming to recruit 200,000 participants from 10 integrated healthcare systems across the US. At baseline, participants complete online surveys and donate biospecimens. Intended to be a resource for the wider research community, Connect will focus on studies of cancer etiology, risk prediction, and early detection.
Methods
Blood (SST, K2-EDTA, Li-Hep), urine, and mouthwash are collected at baseline in dedicated study research centers or using clinical phlebotomy labs combined with mailed home mouthwash kits. In addition to the baseline survey modules, participants are asked to complete surveys regarding factors specific to the time of sample collection. Biospecimens are shipped from across the US (CO, GA, HI, IL, MI, MN, ND, OR, SD, TX, WI) in temperature-controlled coolers to a central NCI lab in Maryland for processing and long-term storage. Process metrics to ascertain biospecimen quality include sample completeness, needle-to-receipt time, and specimen deviations. Biospecimen survey completion is also monitored.
Results
As of January 2025, 68% of 55,943 Connect participants (ranging from 56% to 80% across sites) donated any biospecimens, with baseline collections still ongoing. Among collections, 42% were from research centers and 58% from clinical labs, with complete collections (all expected blood, urine, and mouthwash) from 96% and 99%, respectively. Over 80% of biospecimens were received at NCI within 2 days of collection and 97% were received within 4 days. The return of home-collected mouthwash samples was 76%. Among all biospecimens collected, 87% had no protocol or sample deviations. Over 90% of participants submitted the biospecimen survey.
Conclusion
We successfully implemented a robust and efficient biospecimen collection at multiple sites that complements our survey data collection. In the future, Connect data and biospecimens will be available to the research community.