CANCER TRIAL TESTS RESUME IN CITY
Third appointment for early detection
HUNDREDS of people in Stokeon-trent are taking part in an NHS early cancer detection trial.
Over the coming weeks, hundreds of participants in the city who enrolled on the Nhs-galleri trial in 2022 will be returning to a mobile clinic for their last of three appointments for the trial.
They will be asked to give a blood sample to help the NHS see if using the Galleri blood test alongside existing cancer screening can help detect cancer early.
Finding cancer early often means it is easier to treat.
Since the Nhs-galleri trial first arrived in Stoke-on-trent, it has successfully enrolled over 140,000 volunteers from across England.
This year the trials will be run from a mobile clinic in the car park of the Tesco supermarket in Newcastle Road (the A34) Trent Vale. Volunteers were all aged
50 to 77 years old at the point of enrolling onto the trial and had not been diagnosed or treated for cancer in the last three years.
Dr Gary Free, Planned Care and Cancer Clinical Director for NHS Staffordshire and Stoke-ontrent Integrated Care Board, said: “This trial continues to put the NHS at the forefront of cuttingedge research and technology. If this trial is a success, the Galleri blood test could play a major part in achieving the NHS Long Term Plan ambition to diagnose three quarters of cancers at an early stage when it is easier to treat.” Professor Charles Swanton, Co-chief Investigator for the Nhs-galleri trial, said: “The information gathered from these last appointments is important to support trial results. Testing samples taken about 12 months apart will help researchers to understand how regularly people might need to be tested with the Galleri blood test in the future.”
Early research has shown that the Galleri test could help to detect cancers that are typically difficult to identify early – such as head and neck, bowel, lung, pancreatic, and throat cancers.
The test works by analysing chemical patterns in fragments of DNA that are shed from tumours into the bloodstream.
The Nhs-galleri trial is being run by The Cancer Research UK and King’s College London Cancer Prevention Trials Unit in partnership with the NHS and healthcare company, GRAIL.
Sarah Hughes, Managing Director of the NHS West Midlands Cancer Alliance, said: “We are delighted to be welcoming back volunteers. Even if you missed your appointment last year, your involvement this year will still help with this research.”