The ARGONAUT study is a longitudinal, prospective, observational study that will enroll up to 4,000 advanced-stage cancer patients of diverse racial backgrounds to collect data used to develop precision microbiome medicines and for the identification of companion diagnostics to guide therapeutic decisions. Four types of cancers will be profiled including non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), triple negative breast cancer (TNBC), colorectal cancer (CRC) and pancreatic cancer. 

Planned enrollment of 4,000 patients makes ARGONAUT the largest ever clinical study to map the cancer gut microbiome immune axis in the U.S. Persephone aims to apply machine learning to large datasets created by this study to identify approaches to increase patient response to existing oncology treatments as well as identify new therapeutic targets.