NHS England is rolling out a world-first clinical trial of multi-cancer blood tests across 200 GP surgeries. Led by the University of Birmingham, the STRIDE-RCT study will involve over 20,000 patients aged 45 and older presenting with vague abdominal symptoms. The test targets hard-to-detect cancers including liver, ovarian, and pancreatic cancer by analyzing blood proteins and DNA. Health Secretary Yvette Cooper and Cancer Research UK welcomed the effort to enable earlier diagnosis.
STRIDE-RCT trial launch and enrollment
- ▪The STRIDE-RCT trial of multi-cancer blood tests in NHS England GP surgeries is being led and developed by the University of Birmingham
- ▪NHS England said the STRIDE-RCT trial will enroll over 20,000 patients aged 45 and over presenting with abdominal symptoms such as persistent bloating or pain
STRIDE-RCT blood test targets and mechanism
- ▪Patients in the STRIDE-RCT trial will provide one or two blood samples during routine GP visits to be analyzed for DNA fragments and proteins
- ▪The blood tests developed by the University of Birmingham and tested in the STRIDE-RCT trial aim to indicate whether cancer is present and pinpoint the location of the tumor in the body
- ▪The multi-cancer blood tests evaluated in the STRIDE-RCT trial target cancers including bowel, stomach, oesophageal, pancreatic, liver, bile duct, gallbladder, ovarian, endometrial, kidney, bladder, and prostate cancer
Galleri multi-cancer blood test trial
- ▪Researchers continue to assess potential benefits of the Galleri multi-cancer blood test despite its missed primary endpoint in an NHS trial
- ▪A separate NHS trial evaluating the Galleri multi-cancer blood test, distinct from the STRIDE-RCT trial, failed to meet its main goal of reducing late-stage cancer diagnoses
Cancer statistics and mortality in the UK
- ▪Cancer mortality in Britain is among the highest across OECD countries on a per capita basis
- ▪Around 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
Challenges in diagnosing early-stage cancer symptoms
- ▪NHS England national clinical director for cancer Prof Peter Johnson stated that detecting early-stage abdominal cancer is notoriously difficult because symptoms resemble less serious conditions
- ▪Cancer Research UK representative Michelle Mitchell stated that family doctors urgently need better diagnostic tools to navigate uncertain cancer symptoms and guide further testing
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