Skip to content

The Genomic Medicine at VA Study

Pragmatic Randomized Trial of Polygenic Risk Scoring for Common Diseases in Primary Care

Status
UNKNOWN
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT04331535
Acronym
GenoVA
Enrollment
1076
Registered
2020-04-02
Start date
2020-07-17
Completion date
2025-09-30
Last updated
2022-10-03

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Atrial Fibrillation, Breast Cancer, Colorectal Cancer, Coronary Artery Disease, Prostate Cancer, Type 2 Diabetes

Keywords

Polygenic risk score, Coronary artery disease, Atrial fibrillation, Type 2 diabetes, Colorectal cancer, Breast cancer, Prostate cancer

Brief summary

This trial will determine the clinical effectiveness of polygenic risk score testing among patients at high genetic risk for at least one of six diseases (coronary artery disease, atrial fibrillation, type 2 diabetes mellitus, colorectal cancer, breast cancer, or prostate cancer), measured by time-to-diagnosis of prevalent or incident disease over 24 months.

Detailed description

One of the most pressing controversies in genomics today is the clinical utility of polygenic risk scores (PRS). Broadening the scope of genomic risk testing beyond monogenic diseases, PRS combine information from hundreds or even millions of genetic loci, each with a very small effect size on the risk of common complex disease. The result is a continuous quantitative risk factor for susceptibility to conditions such as coronary artery disease (CAD), type 2 diabetes (T2D), and breast cancer. Compared to rarer monogenic disease variants, PRS have greater transformative potential for public health and healthcare in their ability to identify much larger proportions of the population at significantly elevated risk for disease, facilitating evidence-based prevention and management. Moreover, their prediction ability has vastly improved compared to earlier PRS that included only a limited number of genetic variants. However, while the associations between PRS and a wide range of common diseases are well established (clinical validity), the potential impact of this information on patient health outcomes (clinical utility) remains contested and understudied. This study will examine the effectiveness and implementation outcomes from the use of PRS for 6 common diseases that are screened for by PCPs and have established prevention strategies: CAD, AFib, T2D, colorectal cancer, prostate cancer, and breast cancer. This trial has two aims: Aim 1: Conduct a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to determine the clinical effectiveness of PRS among patients at high genetic risk for at least one disease, measured by changes in clinical management (process outcomes) and time to diagnosis of prevalent or incident disease (clinical outcome) over 24 months. Aim 2: Measure high-priority genomic medicine implementation outcomes, including primary care provider (PCP) knowledge and beliefs about PRS, patient activation in healthcare, medication adherence, and costs.

Interventions

Polygenic risk score report from a Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendment (CLIA)-certified laboratory for coronary artery disease, atrial fibrillation, type 2 diabetes, colorectal cancer, breast cancer (for women only), and prostate cancer (for men only), delivered along with patient- and provider-level educational material.

Sponsors

VA Boston Healthcare System
CollaboratorFED
Boston VA Research Institute, Inc.
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
SCREENING
Masking
SINGLE (Outcomes Assessor)

Masking description

Participants are randomized to have them and their primary care providers receive their PRS results at baseline (PRS) or after 24 months (usual care, UC). Randomization is stratified by PRS results: A high-risk stratum consists of all participants with at least one PRS indicating high risk, while the remaining participants comprise the average-risk stratum. Participants who do not receive their results at baseline are blinded to whether they have all average-risk PRS results or any high-risk PRS results. Outcomes assessors and data analysts will be blinded to randomization and PRS results status.

Intervention model description

Randomized clinical trial comparing polygenic risk score (PRS) testing and reporting to delayed reporting

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
50 Years to 70 Years
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Age 50-70 years at enrollment * No known diagnosis of the following conditions, initially screened by the International Classification of Disease (ICD) codes or other electronic health record (EHR) data using validated methods and then confirmed with potential patient-participants during recruitment: coronary artery disease, atrial fibrillation, type 2 diabetes, colorectal cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer

Exclusion criteria

* Patients will be ineligible if they: * Have a known diagnosis of at least one of the six diseases of interest * Are younger than age 50 or older than age 70 * Are pregnant * Are incarcerated or institutionalized

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Time-to-new diagnosis of common complex disease24 months after enrollmentThe primary outcome of the study is time-to-diagnosis both of undiagnosed prevalent cases of the 6 target conditions and incident cases during the study period. This composite outcome will only include clinically significant diagnoses, as adjudicated by expert clinical chart review.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Diagnostic testing24 months after enrollmentAny evidence that the patient-participant underwent additional diagnostic testing for the six target diseases since enrollment: coronary artery disease (stress testing, cardiac CT for coronary artery calcium (CAC), coronary angiography), atrial fibrillation (ECG, heart rhythm monitoring), type 2 diabetes (hemoglobin A1c, blood glucose), colorectal cancer (colonoscopy, sigmoidoscopy, fecal blood testing, CT colonography), breast cancer (mammography, breast MRI, breast ultrasound, breast biopsy), and prostate cancer (PSA testing, prostate biopsy).
Patient activationBaseline and 24 months after enrollmentSelf-reported understanding, competence, and willingness to participate health care decisions and processes assessed on the baseline and end-of-study surveys, using the 13-item short form of the Patient Activation Measure (Hibbard, Health Services Research 2005).
Healthcare costs24 months after enrollmentA combination of administrative data and microcosting approaches will be used to estimate the costs of the intervention and the subsequent patient-level healthcare costs over the 24 months after enrollment. Estimates of the infrastructure and personnel needed to deliver the intervention will be derived empirically from the study. Healthcare costs will be abstracted from billing and administrative data.
Medication adherenceBaseline and 24 months after enrollmentSelf-report of taking medications as prescribed assessed on the baseline and end-of-study surveys, using the 3-item Voils Medication Adherence Survey (Voils, Medical Care, 2012).

Other

MeasureTime frameDescription
Alcohol intakeBaseline and 24 months after enrollmentSelf-reported alcohol will be assessed on the baseline and end-of-study surveys using measures from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, recorded as an ordinal 5-item Likert response (from Never to Very often).
Processed meat consumptionBaseline and 24 months after enrollmentSelf-reported processed meat intake assessed on the baseline and end-of-study surveys using a food frequency question from National Cancer Institute Eating Habits Questionnaire, recorded as an ordinal 5-item Likert response (from Never to Very often).
Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C)Baseline and 24 months after enrollmentThe most recent LDL-C values recorded in the medical record prior to or on the date of enrollment and prior to or on the date 24 months after enrollment.
Provider knowledge and beliefs about PRS24 months after enrollmentSemi-structured interviews will collect qualitative data on participating providers' understanding of and perceived utility of the PRS risk information.
Risk-reducing medication prescriptions24 months after enrollmentRelevant prescription medication changes during 24-month observation period, including antihypertensives, cholesterol-lowering medications, anticoagulants, antiplatelet medications, 5-alpha reductase inhibitors, selective estrogen receptor modulators, aromatase inhibitors, as abstracted from medical record review.
Health status and quality of lifeBaseline and 24 months after enrollmentAs determined by data collected from the baseline survey (VR-12)
Smoking statusBaseline and 24 months after enrollmentSelf-reported smoking status will be assessed on the baseline and end-of-study surveys using measures from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.
Blood pressureBaseline and 24 months after enrollmentThe most recent systolic and diastolic blood pressure values recorded in the medical record prior to or on the date of enrollment and prior to or on the date 24 months after enrollment.
Body-mass index (BMI)Baseline and 24 months after enrollmentThe most recent BMI values recorded in the medical record prior to or on the date of enrollment and prior to or on the date 24 months after enrollment.
Aspirin useBaseline and 24 months after enrollmentSelf-reported use of prescription or over-the-counter aspirin will be assessed on the baseline and end-of-study surveys.
Physical activityBaseline and 24 months after enrollment.Self-reported physical will be assessed on the baseline and end-of-study surveys using the Rapid Assessment of Physical Activity.

Countries

United States

Contacts

Primary ContactJason L. Vassy, MD, MPH, SM
jvassy@partners.org857-364-2561

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026