Over 140,000 people, of which over 19,000 are from the North East and North Cumbria, have volunteered to take part in the world’s largest trial of a blood test that can detect more than 50 types of cancer, as part of the latest NHS drive to catch the disease when it is generally easiest to treat.

NHS chief executive Amanda Pritchard has announced the latest milestone in NHS cancer innovation, with the blood test potentially offering earlier detection of hard-to-spot cancers, even before symptoms appear.

In just one year since the NHS-Galleri trial began, volunteers from across the country have taken up the invitation to have a blood test at mobile clinics in over 150 convenient locations, including supermarket and leisure centre car parks and places of worship. Participants will now be invited to attend two further appointments, spaced roughly 12 months apart.

The NHS Long Term Plan committed to increasing the proportion of cancers caught early, when they are easier to treat, from half to three in four. Thanks to national NHS campaigns and early diagnosis initiatives, urgent cancer referrals have been at record levels over the past 12 months – almost one-fifth higher than before the pandemic.

NHS ‘one stop shops’ have already delivered over one million checks and tests, including for cancer, since the rollout began, with over 90 community diagnostic centres (CDCs) offering MRI, CT and other services closer to patients’ homes, often in the heart of local communities.

This trial is part of radical NHS action to tackle cancer, that also includes high street pharmacies spotting signs of cancer and sending people for checks, drones delivering chemotherapy, and roaming lung and liver scanning trucks going into communities.

Initial research has shown that this blood test could help to detect cancers that are typically difficult to identify early – such as head and neck, bowel, lung and pancreatic cancers.

NHS chief executive Amanda Pritchard said: “The NHS will not stand still in our efforts to catch cancer earlier and save more lives, rolling out new and innovative ways to detect cancers sooner; from roaming liver trucks, to genetic testing and high street checks, we want to make it as easy as possible for those most at risk to get vital, lifesaving tests.”

Amanda added: “We know that certain cancers are harder to detect and a late diagnosis can be devastating for patients and their families, and this trial means thousands could benefit from a diagnosis even before symptoms appear.”

It is vital that trial participants attend their follow up appointments, so researchers, including teams at The Cancer Research UK and King’s College London Cancer Prevention Trial Unit, can understand whether the test could be used in the future as part of the NHS cancer screening programme.

Not only is this trial a major step in NHS efforts to catch cancers sooner, but trial organisers, and the NHS DigiTrials service, have made particular efforts to achieve representation of people from minority ethnic backgrounds, who are often less likely to take part in medical research studies.

Activity included working with specific GP practices to send invitations to their ethnic minority patient lists, community group briefings, leaflet distribution in relevant community settings such as places of worship, working with community champions and targeted social media posts.

While it is too early to report on the results of the trial, a number of participants have been referred for urgent NHS cancer investigations following the detection of a cancer signal. Those joining the trial were aged of 50 to 77 years old and did not have signs of cancer at the time of enrolment. Mobile clinics will return to towns and cities from September this year and will follow up with volunteers approximately one year after their initial appointment.

The test works by finding chemical changes in fragments of DNA that shed from tumours into the bloodstream. If successful, the NHS in England plans to roll out the test to a further one million people across 2024 and 2025.

Sir Harpal Kumar, President of GRAIL Europe, said: “We are so grateful for the public’s enthusiasm for this trial and to all those who have volunteered and are looking forward to participants coming back to our mobile clinics from September.

“Previous research has shown that the test is particularly strong at detecting deadly cancers and our hope is that it will help the NHS to reduce the number of cancers detected at a late stage.

“Galleri test results can provide clinicians with an accurate prediction of where the cancer is located in the body and, with the low rate of false positives we are hopeful that it will work well alongside existing cancer screening in the UK – the results of this trial will be key to our understanding.”

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, which has developed the Galleri test.

Along with the Northern Cancer Alliance that covers the North East and North Cumbria, it is operating with the support of seven other NHS Cancer Alliances across England that span Cheshire and Merseyside, Greater Manchester, West Midlands, East Midlands, East of England, Kent and Medway, and South East London.