The UK National Health Service is launching the world's largest trial to help detect as many as 50 types of cancer. For volunteers taking part, this means they can fight the disease before the first symptoms appear.
The Galleri test, a genetic test, will determine whether a patient already has cancer cells. NHS England chief executive Amanda Pritchard said the quick and simple test could mark the start of a revolution in cancer detection and treatment. The study will involve 140,000 volunteers (aged between 50 and 77). Participants who have not been diagnosed with cancer in the past three years will be asked to give their first blood sample at a mobile test clinic, with further samples one and two years later. "We need to study the Galleri test carefully to find out whether it can significantly reduce the number of late-stage cancer diagnoses," - Peter Sasieni, Professor of Cancer Prevention at King's College London, said.
Lung cancer is by far the most common cause of death among cancer patients in the UK. Previous studies of various stage one to stage three tumours have shown that the Galleri test detects 67 per cent of a dozen previously identified cancers, which account for around two-thirds of deaths in the UK and US and around 41 per cent of all cancers.
Source: medexpress.co.uk