Saskatchewan's largest colon cancer screening study
Nearly 6,000 participants across two Regina hospitals, with the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency and the provincial government at the table. A blood-based test that detected 86% of colorectal cancers, fourteen years before the FDA approved a comparable technology elsewhere.
The research
Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer in Canada and the second leading cause of cancer death. In 2008, screening rates in Saskatchewan were among the lowest in the country. The standard screening tool, the fecal occult blood test, had a sensitivity as low as 37%, meaning it missed more cancers than it caught.
Dr. Goodenowe and his team at Phenomenome Discoveries in Saskatoon had discovered something remarkable: a class of novel long-chain fatty acids called GTAs that were dramatically reduced in the blood of colorectal cancer patients. The question was whether this discovery could be turned into a practical population-level research tool. To find out, they needed a large-scale study, and Saskatchewan provided the foundation for one.
A Saskatchewan collaboration
The study was a joint effort between four organizations:
Phenomenome Discoveries Inc.
Saskatoon, the research company founded by Dr. Goodenowe
Saskatchewan Cancer Agency
The province's cancer care and research authority
Government of Saskatchewan
Provided funding support for the study
Regina Qu'Appelle Health Region
Provided study facilities and medical oversight
The lead study gastroenterologist was Dr. James McHattie, head of gastroenterology for the Regina Qu'Appelle Health Region. The study was approved by the ethics boards of both the University of Saskatchewan and the Regina Qu'Appelle Health Region.
What the study found
86% of patients with confirmed colorectal cancer had low GTA-446 levels, regardless of whether the cancer was early-stage (87%) or advanced (85%).
For people under 50, low GTA-446 levels corresponded to a 10.1x higher relative risk of colorectal cancer (p < 0.0001).
The CRC incidence rate in participants with low GTA-446 levels was over six times higher than in participants with normal levels. This finding is particularly significant because colorectal cancer in younger adults is one of the fastest-growing cancer trends in North America, and current population health guidelines do not begin recommending routine assessment until age 50.
"This blood test gives great promise to be able to identify with great accuracy a segment of the population at high risk for development of colon cancer at a stage where intervention would either prevent or cure the cancer."
Dr. James McHattie, Head of Gastroenterology, Regina Qu'Appelle Health Region, speaking to CBC News on June 12, 2008, at the time the study was approved
A decade ahead, and what happened next
By 2013, the results were in. The test, marketed as COLOGIC, was being offered to health professionals. Blood samples were being processed at Phenomenome's laboratory in Saskatoon.
In late 2015, Golden Opportunities Fund Inc. (GOFI) demanded repayment of a loan secured against laboratory equipment. Phenomenome Discoveries entered court-ordered receivership on February 26, 2016. PDI's assets, including the GTA-446 platform, were acquired by Med-Life Discoveries LP through the receivership in September 2016. Med-Life prioritized a different part of the portfolio, and the GTA-446 platform was not continued as a commercial product. Receivership record
The world catches up
In July 2024, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Shield, the first blood test for primary colorectal cancer assessment. Its sensitivity: 83%.
Dr. Goodenowe's GTA-446 test had detected 86% of colorectal cancers in the Saskatchewan study, fourteen years earlier.
The two technologies work through different mechanisms, and direct comparison requires caution. What the Saskatchewan study demonstrated, more than a decade before the FDA approved a comparable concept elsewhere, was that a simple blood test could meaningfully identify colorectal cancer risk at the population level.
Saskatchewan demonstrated this concept more than a decade before it was approved anywhere else.
What was interrupted, and what remains
The science still exists. The publications have not been retracted, challenged, or contradicted. They have been independently validated by European researchers and cited in dozens of subsequent studies worldwide.
What was interrupted was the commercialization, not the science.