A new clinical trial will introduce multi-cancer blood tests to roughly 200 general practitioner surgeries across England, aimed at identifying certain malignancies sooner through analysis of blood samples. The trial, officially designated STRIDE-RCT and supported by government funding, will be led by the University of Birmingham and focus on detecting cancers including bowel, pancreatic, liver, ovarian, stomach, oesophageal, bladder, kidney, and prostate varieties.
The tests work by identifying proteins or DNA fragments in blood that may indicate the presence of cancer. Patients aged 45 and older who present with symptoms such as abdominal pain or persistent bloating will be eligible to participate. Participants will provide one or two blood samples during routine visits to their GP practice, with scientists then analyzing the samples for potential cancer markers and, when detected, attempting to identify the tumor’s location.
Abdominal cancers have historically proven challenging to diagnose early, as their symptoms often resemble those of less serious conditions. According to trial organizers, early detection of these malignancies significantly improves treatment outcomes and survival rates. Current figures indicate that approximately 71,000 people in England receive diagnoses of pancreatic, stomach, liver, ovarian, or bowel cancer annually, with nearly 35,000 deaths occurring from these diseases each year.
The trial will evaluate whether the tests demonstrate sufficient accuracy for eventual implementation across the broader NHS system. Health officials and cancer research organizations have emphasized the need for improved diagnostic tools to help clinicians determine which patients require urgent investigation. However, researchers note that positive test results do not definitively confirm cancer presence, and negative results do not provide absolute assurance of absence of disease.
A previous NHS trial of a different multi-cancer blood test called Galleri did not achieve its primary objective of reducing late-stage cancer diagnoses, though assessment of potential secondary benefits remains ongoing.
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