'Multi-cancer' blood tests coming to some GP surgeries soon
Summary
A government-funded trial will offer multi-cancer blood tests to more than 20,000 patients aged 45 and over at about 200 GP surgeries in England. Researchers will assess whether the tests can help identify several cancers earlier and guide decisions about further investigation.Key Facts
- The trial is led by the University of Birmingham and is called STRIDE-RCT.
- Eligible patients will have symptoms such as pain or persistent bloating.
- Patients will provide one or two blood tubes alongside routine tests.
- Researchers will test samples for proteins or DNA fragments that may signal cancer.
- The trial covers cancers including bowel, stomach, pancreatic, liver, ovarian, kidney and prostate cancer.
- A positive result does not confirm cancer, and a negative result does not guarantee that a patient is cancer-free.
- A separate NHS trial of the Galleri test did not meet its main goal of reducing diagnoses of late-stage cancers.
- About 71,000 people in England are diagnosed each year with pancreatic, stomach, liver, ovarian or bowel cancer, and nearly 35,000 die from these diseases.
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