England GP trial to assess blood tests for multiple cancers

Blood tests looking for signs of several cancers will be offered at around 200 GP surgeries in England through a government-funded trial led by the University of Birmingham. More than 20,000 patients aged 45 and over with symptoms including pain or persistent bloating will be eligible. The STRIDE-RCT study will assess whether the tests are sufficiently accurate for broader NHS use.

Patients will give one or two tubes of blood alongside routine testing. Researchers will look for proteins or DNA fragments that could indicate cancer and potentially its location. The results may help guide further investigations, but a positive finding does not confirm cancer, while a negative result cannot rule it out.

NHS England’s cancer director says abdominal cancers are particularly difficult to detect early because their symptoms can resemble less serious conditions. The source reports that a separate NHS trial of Galleri, another multi-cancer blood test, missed its main target of reducing late-stage diagnoses, underlining that benefits still need to be demonstrated.