An observational study in Cancer and Circulating Tumor DNA Detection, sponsored by The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University. Not yet recruiting at 1 site in China. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-11-04.
Sponsored by The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University · Observational
This study tests a new, fast blood test that may help detect very small traces of tumor DNA in the bloodstream. When tumor cells die, they release small pieces of DNA called circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) into the blood. Finding these pieces can help doctors diagnose cancer, monitor how well treatment is working, and detect cancer recurrence earlier. However, ctDNA is present in very small amounts and is hard to detect with current methods. Newer techniques such as next-generation sequencing (NGS) can find ctDNA, but they are expensive, require specialized laboratories, and take days to return results. This study evaluates a new testing method called "CRISPR/Cas12a combined with gold nanoparticle detection." This method uses a gene-editing protein (Cas12a) that can recognize a specific mutation in the BRCA1 gene and a gold nanoparticle-based readout that shows results within about 30 minutes, using portable equipment.
The main purpose of this study is to find out how accurate, sensitive, and specific this new test is compared with NGS, which is considered the gold standard. The study will also check whether the portable device works consistently across different hospitals and whether the test results match patients' responses to treatment.
The study will enroll adult cancer patients treated at participating hospitals and a group of healthy volunteers. All participants will provide about 3 mL of blood (less than one teaspoon). No additional invasive procedures or extra hospital visits are required beyond routine blood draws. For cancer patients, part of the blood sample will be tested with the new method and part will be tested with standard NGS, and the two results will be compared. Healthy volunteers' blood will be used to confirm that the test does not produce false positive results.
There is no direct physical harm from the test itself, since it is performed on blood samples in the laboratory. Participants will receive the ctDNA test free of charge, and their test results may help their doctors better understand their disease.
The results of this study may help develop a rapid, low-cost, bedside test for tumor DNA, which could improve cancer diagnosis and monitoring in the future.
10,818 studies on the registry are indexed under Neoplasms; 2,324 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 100 is below the median of 200 across 2,638 observational studies indexed under Neoplasms.
Browse Neoplasms studies →The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University is the lead sponsor of 126 studies on the registry; 73 are open to participants now.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
The study population consists of two groups: (1) Cancer patients - adult patients with BRCA1-related tumors (e.g., breast, ovarian, or prostate cancer) receiving care at The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University (lead site) and Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University (participating site), who agree to provide a peripheral blood sample; and (2) Healthy volunteers - adults without a history of cancer, recruited at the participating hospitals as the control group for specificity assessment. All participants provide written informed consent before enrollment. Participants are recruited based on the principles of voluntariness and fairness, without discrimination by race, gender, or socioeconomic status
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Exclusion Criteria:
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Informed consent
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Patients with BRCA1-related tumors (e.g., breast, ovarian, or prostate cancer) enrolled at participating hospitals. Approximately 3 mL of EDTA-anticoagulated peripheral blood is collected from each participant. Each sample is tested by both the investigational CRISPR/Cas12a-gold nanoparticle ctDNA detection method and next-generation sequencing (NGS, the gold standard reference), and the results of the two methods are compared to evaluate diagnostic accuracy and sensitivity.
Healthy adults without a history of cancer, enrolled as the control group for specificity assessment. Approximately 3 mL of EDTA-anticoagulated peripheral blood is collected from each participant and tested by the CRISPR/Cas12a-gold nanoparticle method to determine the false positive rate.
Diagnostic accuracy of the CRISPR/Cas12a-gold nanoparticle ctDNA test compared with NGS
The agreement between the CRISPR/Cas12a-gold nanoparticle ctDNA detection method and next-generation sequencing (NGS, the gold standard reference) will be evaluated in tumor patient samples. Diagnostic accuracy is measured by the Kappa coefficient of concordance between the two methods, with Kappa ≥0.85 considered excellent agreement. Sensitivity (detection positive rate of 1 pM, 0.5 pM, and 0.1 pM target ctDNA samples; ≥95% considered qualified) and specificity (false positive rate in 50 healthy volunteer samples; ≤5% considered qualified) will also be assessed.
Time frame: through study completion, an average of 1 year
Stability of the portable detection device across multiple centers
Inter-site consistency of the portable device will be assessed by the coefficient of variation (CV) of the same batch of standard samples tested at multiple centers; CV ≤10% is considered qualified.
Time frame: through study completion, an average of 1 year
Plan to share: No
No publications or documents are linked to this record.
Start is estimated for Jan 2027; primary completion for Dec 2028, 22 months later.
Of 1,098 non-industry observational studies under Neoplasms, half reached primary completion within 61 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 24 and three quarters within 227. This study's planned 22 months is below that.
Counting every sponsor, half of 1,246 studies reached it within 58 months; a quarter within 24 and three quarters within 210.
Neoplasms covers many different conditions, not one, so the studies compared here vary widely. Read these figures as a rough guide.
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From the registry record's own update history. This site started tracking changes on Sep 25, 2026; for anything earlier, see the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
This study is not yet recruiting, as verified in Nov 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University →