A large-scale trial looking into the use of a blood test to see if it can help the NHS detect cancer early has reported a substantial reduction in the most advanced cancers.
The NHS Galleri trial aimed to see if using the Galleri® multi-cancer early detection test alongside existing cancer screening can help to find cancer early. The blood test can detect a 'signal' shared by many different types of cancer in a sample of a person's blood.
More than 142,000 volunteers aged 50-77 from eight regions of England took part in the trial, co-led by Professor Richard Neal at the University of Exeter. The participants provided three blood samples over two years.
At least 20% fewer of the most advanced cancers (stage 4) were diagnosed in the second and third round of screening, in people who had the blood test compared with those who did not.
However, the trial found no difference overall in the number of people diagnosed with late-stage cancer (stage 3 and stage 4 cancers together), the main goal (endpoint) of the trial. The results reported a trend towards fewer late stage cancers the second and third time people had the blood test.
Professor Charles Swanton, thoracic medical oncologist at University College London Hospital, Co-Chief Investigator for the NHS-Galleri trial, said: "As a lung cancer doctor, I see the clinical importance of diagnosing cancer at an earlier stage, when treatment is more likely to be curative. The NHS-Galleri trial tested whether adding the Galleri blood test to NHS screening could reduce the combined number of cancers diagnosed at stage 3 or 4 over three years. The primary endpoint was not met."
He added: "However, a pre-specified secondary endpoint did show a greater than 20% reduction in stage 4 cancers, with the effect strengthening by the third year of screening. The stage 4 reduction is clinically meaningful because for many cancers there is a real gulf in outlook between a stage 4 diagnosis and one caught earlier. The hope is that for more patients the conversation can be about treating cancer with curative intent rather than managing it palliatively."
Professor Richard Neal, Professor of Primary Care at University of Exeter and Co-Chief Investigator for the NHS-Galleri trial, said: "I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to all the people who took part in this landmark trial. The first results from the trial have helped us understand more about how the test may help find cancers earlier. They have also helped us learn more about how cancers develop and about this type of blood test. These results are just the start of what we will learn from this trial, which is the first and biggest of its kind. The trial and everything that we are discovering from the data would not have been possible without your support."
