faculty
Candace T. Westgate, DO, MPH, FACOG
Medical Director
AHEAD Hereditary Cancer Risk Assessment Programs
Adventist Health – St. Helena Women's Center
St. Helena, California

Target Audience

The educational design of this activity addresses the needs of primary care and other front-line clinicians related to early cancer detection.

Program Overview

Cancer presents enormous medical, economic, and social burdens, with ≥2 million new cases diagnosed and an estimated 611,000 deaths projected to occur in 2024. Despite significant advances in therapy, cancer is still the second leading cause of death in the United States and the leading cause of mortality in people younger than 80 years. The costs of treating cancer, including drugs, hospitalization, and ambulatory care, as well as lost productivity and absenteeism, exceed $257 billion annually. Early detection is crucial to reducing these cancer burdens, improving outcomes and quality of life by making it possible for therapy to begin sooner, thereby decreasing treatment costs and complexity and reducing morbidity and mortality. Blood-based multi-cancer early detection (MCED) tests have been developed to support population-based screening of asymptomatic individuals for dozens of cancer types. This multimedia educational activity has been designed to help primary care clinicians—the most important facilitators of preventive health care and cancer screening—understand the science behind MCED tests, interpret trial data, and explore the potential role for MCED testing in the routine cancer screening paradigm. The activity will also address the incorporation of MCED testing into primary care practice, including the use of shared decision-making to determine patient eligibility and appropriate diagnostic follow-up in response to a positive test.

Educational Objectives

After completing this activity, the participant should be better able to:

  1. Discuss benefits and limitations of current guideline-recommended screening modalities and the potential role of blood-based tests to improve early cancer detection
  2. Describe the use of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) for the early detection of multiple cancer types
  3. Evaluate the recent clinical data on available and emerging blood-based multi-cancer early detection (MCED) screening tests and their utility in early cancer detection
  4. Implement MCED screening into primary care practice, including patient eligibility evaluation, counseling, shared decision-making, and clinical care pathways following a positive result 

Physician Accreditation Statement

Integritas Communications is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

Physician Credit Designation

Integritas designates this enduring activity for a maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™.  Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Nurse Practitioner Continuing Education

This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the Accreditation Standards of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) through the joint providership of Global Education Group and Integritas Communications. Global is accredited by the American Association of Nurse Practitioners as an approved provider of nurse practitioner continuing education. Provider number: 110121. This activity is approved for 1.0 contact hour (which includes 0.0 hours of pharmacology).

Integritas Contact Information

For more information about the approval (ACCME credit) of this program, please contact Integritas at info@exchangecme.com.

Global Contact Information

For information about the approval (AANP credit) of this program, please contact Global at 303-395-1782 or cme@globaleducationgroup.com.

Instructions to Receive Credit

In order to receive credit for this activity, the participant must score at least 75% on the posttest and complete the program evaluation.

Fee Information & Refund/Cancellation Policy

There is no fee for this educational activity.

Disclosures of Conflicts of Interest

Integritas and Global Education Group adhere to the policies and guidelines, including the Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited CE, set forth to providers by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) and all other professional organizations, as applicable, stating those activities where continuing education credits are awarded must be balanced, independent, objective, and scientifically rigorous. All persons in a position to control the content of an accredited continuing education program provided by Integritas are required to disclose all financial relationships with any ineligible company within the past 24 months to Integritas.  All financial relationships reported are identified as relevant and mitigated by Integritas in accordance with the Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited CE in advance of delivery of the activity to learners. The content of this activity was vetted by Integritas to assure objectivity and that the activity is free of commercial bias. 

ll relevant financial relationships have been mitigated.

The faculty has the following relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies:

Candace T. Westgate, DO, MPH, FACOGConsulting Fees: Myriad Genetics, Inc.; Speakers Bureau: AstraZeneca plc, GRAIL, LLC, Myriad Genetics, Inc.

The planners and managers at Integritas and Global Education Group have no relevant financial relationships to disclose.

Disclosure of Unlabeled Use

This educational activity may contain discussion of published and/or investigational uses of agents that are not indicated by the US Food and Drug Administration. Integritas and Global do not recommend the use of any agent outside of the labeled indications. 

The opinions expressed in the educational activity are those of the faculty and do not necessarily represent the views of any organization associated with this activity. Please refer to the official prescribing information for each product for discussion of approved indications, contraindications, and warnings.

Disclaimer

Participants have an implied responsibility to use the newly acquired information to enhance patient outcomes and their own professional development. The information presented in this activity is not meant to serve as a guideline for patient management. Any procedures, medications, or other courses of diagnosis or treatment discussed in this activity should not be used by clinicians without evaluation of patient conditions and possible contraindications or dangers in use, review of any applicable manufacturer’s product information, and comparison with recommendations of other authorities.

Begin Activity
available resources
meeting slides
linked resources
Suggested Reading
A Multimedia Educational eHealth Source™

Multi-Cancer Early Detection

Incorporating Blood-Based Screening Tools into Primary Care Practice