More than 20,000 patients are set to take part in a world-first trial that can spot cancer in blood tests
The cancer blood test trial, developed at the University of Birmingham, will take place across 200 GP practices in England and is targeted at spotting a range of abdominal cancers.
If successful, the research will offer a way to identify cancer before it develops and prevent it from progressing.
Participants will be aged 45 and over
Subjects presenting symptoms such as persistent bloating or discomfort will be offered the chance to be tested via blood test for signs of oesophageal, bile duct, gallbladder, endometrial, kidney, bladder, prostate, ovarian, bowel, small bowel, pancreatic, stomach, and liver cancer, among other abdominal cancers. These blood tests will look for early markers for cancer that appear before severe symptoms develop and potentially treat a major cancer well before it becomes a major issue.
If successful, this will reduce the 71,000 people who are diagnosed with pancreatic, stomach, liver, ovarian, or bowel cancer in England per year, and eventually reduce the number of people who die from these cancers per year (35,000).
Abdominal cancers are notorious for being detected too late. Around nine in ten who are diagnosed with bowel cancer at stage 1 survive at least five years, compared to one in ten for those who are detected at stage 4.
The trial is named STRIDE-RCT
In addition to looking for several signs of cancer, the STRIDE-RCT test can also suggest where in the body those signs are coming from, all from one or two vials of blood taken alongside routine blood tests.
The tests use several newer technological developments, including the ability to measure proteins in blood and artificial intelligence.
Secretary of state for health and social care, Yvette Cooper, said: “The earlier cancers are diagnosed, the more chance they can be successfully treated, and lives can be saved. This world-first trial will establish whether simple blood tests can help GPs identify, much sooner, the patients who need urgent support.
“Innovations like these are a key part of our National Cancer Plan, which will provide faster diagnosis, more effective treatment, and better care for every patient, while also investing in the trials and technology that offer hope of curing cancer for good.”
The results of this trial period will be judged alongside GPs’ judgements before being made available nationwide.
Artificial Intelligence is being increasingly used in cancer detection technologies due to its excellent pattern-recognition. In prostate biopsy reporting, it was found that concurrent AI use lead to a reduction of 30.1 hours in mean turnaround time.
Find out more here.
