Blood Test Hopes to Ease Alzheimer's Clinical Trial Enrollment for Seniors

Partnership with community-based laboratories brings research closer to participants

This month, the University of Southern California's Alzheimer's Therapeutic Research Institute (ATRI) launched AlzMatch, a new research study where selected volunteers have their blood tested to determine potential eligibility for Alzheimer's disease trials.

The AlzMatch Study seeks to determine whether a single blood test, collected at local laboratories across the country, can help speed clinical trial enrollment for anti-amyloid treatments by identifying individuals who have an increased likelihood of having brain amyloid. Brain amyloid is a protein that builds up in people who may go on to have memory problems because of Alzheimer's disease.

Currently, most Alzheimer's prevention trials rely on positron emission tomography (PET) scans to determine whether amyloid is present in the brain as part of screening individuals for research. According to researchers, blood tests can be used to reduce the number of PET scans needed since they can identify people most likely to have amyloid build-up in the brain. The AlzMatch Study seeks to simplify the screening process through a single blood test taken at a lab location near the potential participant.

For this first phase, only participants in the Alzheimer Prevention Trials (APT) Webstudy (www.aptwebstudy.org) are eligible to enroll in AlzMatch. The APT Webstudy helps people track their memory through a series of online, no-cost tests that take just 20 minutes to complete every three months and potentially match them to Alzheimer's clinical trials. APT Webstudy participants must be at least 50 years old, healthy and have access to the internet. Researchers are working to extend AlzMatch to the community at large, but interested individuals are invited to first join the APT Webstudy. 

"The AlzMatch Study offers people an opportunity to accelerate their potential participation in Alzheimer's prevention trials based on a simple blood test," said Reisa Sperling, MD, director of the Center for Alzheimer Research and Treatment at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, co-principal investigator for the APT Webstudy and scientific co-lead for AlzMatch. "People can be screened at a local laboratory in their community, and if eligible, be referred quickly to a clinical trial location, which will greatly speed our progress toward finding an effective treatment to prevent Alzheimer's dementia."

Participants are invited via email to enroll and consent to AlzMatch online. Following the blood draw, participants receive a $50 eGift card for their time. The collected blood samples are analyzed over a four-to-six-week period, after which participants will be contacted by a member of the AlzMatch support team to discuss results.

"AlzMatch brings Alzheimer's research to our local communities, which we hope will lead to greater access for everyone—especially communities that have not had easy access to research historically," said Sarah Walter, MS, who co-leads the AlzMatch Study at ATRI. "With a simple blood test collected in the community, we have the potential to speed up clinical trial enrollment and hopefully help find better treatments to help the millions of people living with Alzheimer's."

AlzMatch is funded in part by a grant from the National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, The Gates Foundation and The Epstein Family Foundation.  To expand support for this work, contact us.  For more information about the APT Webstudy, the first step for AlzMatch participation, visit APTwebstudy.org.