Cancer DNA Screening Pilot Study (CANDACE)

Blood samples will be separated into plasma and cellular fraction including erythrocytes and buffy coat.The plasma fraction will be placed in a separate tube and frozen for subsequent analysis. Frozen plasma samples, de-identified, will be delivered to Pathway Genomics where DNA content will be analyzed with a circulating tumor DNA assay employing the UBC/Boreal Genomics enrichment technology. All of the participants' plasma will be sent to Pathway, where it will be used up in the assay. Circulating tumor DNA assay results (raw sequencing data) from Pathway Genomics will be returned to UBC and analyzed for the presence of cancer mutations. Any samples showing activating mutations above the assay's technical Limit of Detection (LOD) will be called positive. One exception will be made for TP53 mutations that are known to exist in some normal individuals at low levels. For these mutations, a level of 0.1% will be set, above which the sample will be called positive.