Polygenic Risk Based Detection and Treatment of Subclinical Coronary Atherosclerosis in the PROACT Clinical Trials

Coronary artery disease (CAD) polygenic risk scores (PRS) may identify individuals at elevated genetic risk "flying under the radar" in contemporary practice. The aims of the PROACT (Polygenic Risk Based Detection and Treatment of Subclinical Coronary Atherosclerosis) trials are to prospectively identify these individuals, quantify subclinical coronary plaque, and slow its progression with pharmacologic interventions.

The aim of this study is to report interim feasibility and implementation findings from PROACT, a genotype-first, biobank-enabled trial, characterizing eligibility yield, callback engagement, and subclinical coronary atherosclerosis on coronary computed tomographic angiography among individuals with high CAD PRS.

Within a hospital-based biobank, adults 40 to 75 years of age with high CAD PRS, without cardiovascular disease, and not on lipid-lowering therapy were invited. The authors characterize 2,495 eligible individuals with high CAD PRS, report on the feasibility and early operational outcomes of a genotype-first callback strategy for a clinical trial in the first 1,314 invited, and describe plaque prevalence by age and sex in the first 204 participants using coronary computed tomographic angiography.

Among 64,092 genotyped participants, 2,495 (3.9%) were eligible and had high CAD PRS despite low clinical risk (median 10-year pooled cohort equations risk for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease 3%; Q1-Q3: 1%-8%). Recruitment showed high engagement: among 1,314 invited individuals, 283 (21.5%) opted in, and 204 (15.5%) completed baseline imaging. Compared with participants who did not opt in, those who opted in had higher specialty care engagement and lived closer to the study site. Analysis of the first 204 participants enrolled by January 31, 2025 (mean age 56.3 ± 8.5 years, 69% women), showed that despite the low clinical risk and favorable cardiovascular health (mean Life's Essential 8 score 73.3 ± 11.5 vs the U.S. average of ∼65), one-half the participants (102 of 204) had subclinical plaque. Subclinical plaque prevalence was 76.2% in men and 38.3% in women and was high across age groups.

These exploratory findings highlight the feasibility of implementing genotype-first recruitment for prevention trials and reveal a large proportion of "silent" high-genetic risk individuals with subclinical plaque for whom pharmacotherapy could be beneficial but who remain undetected by standard clinical assessments. (Polygenic Risk Based Detection of Subclinical Coronary Atherosclerosis and Change in Cardiovascular Health [PROACT 1], NCT05819814; Polygenic Risk Based Detection of Subclinical Coronary Atherosclerosis and Intervention With Statin and Colchicine [PROACT 2], NCT05850091).