UNC Lineberger staff responds to being named NIH cancer screening hub: 'Happy to be at the table'

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (WTVD) -- As part of the Biden Administration's effort to "end cancer as we know it," North Carolina is included in the goal for better and earlier cancer detection.

"We're happy to be at the table and really be represented and be part of this research," UNC Lineberger's Daniel Reuland said.

The Chapel Hill center is one of nine sites named as a national research hub for the National Institutes of Health's cancer screening study.

"It's a very diverse state," Reuland said. "We really represent a broad spectrum of communities."

There are cancer screening tests for some cancers such as lung, colorectal, breast and cervical, but for cancers such as ovarian and pancreatic, Reuland said there are no good screening tests.

"These are deadly cancers that really affect a lot of people," Reuland said. "We want to be able to do better."

In its role as an ACCESS Hub, some of the work done at UNC Lineberger will be conducting innovative interventional cancer screening studies and clinical trials, and developing and analyzing large, complex data sets related to cancer screening, according to Reuland.

"It's going to lead to new understandings of how we can detect cancer early sometimes, hopefully for cancers that we don't even have a screening test for now," Reuland said. "I think that these kinds of tests are going to be game changers. Wouldn't it be nice if we had blood tests and other ways that are easier to access and help us move the needle even more and make it easier?"

While it's going to take a long time to study cancer, Reuland sees the first half of the year focused on setting the national network up before they go into the initial pilot study called the "Vanguard Pilot Trial."

"Once we get the protocol rolling, we're going to be able to enroll from all over North Carolina and look at what happens when people get these tests," Reuland said. "It's going to take a lot to understand what's the benefit, but also what are the challenges and potential downsides."