Blood tests offer hope of cancer detection

Clinical trials under way at Bradford Royal Infirmary will help examine the effectiveness of using a blood test to identify if patients with suspected cancer have the illness.

The trial involves patients with suspected colorectal cancer to establish whether they would benefit from an investigative colonoscopy.

Bradford University researchers proposed the technique after subjecting blood samples to ultraviolet light. Prof Diana Anderson, who led the research, believes the test could prove to be a “highly valuable” addition to investigative procedures for detecting cancer.

“We accept that more research needs to be done but these results so far are remarkable,” she said.

Dr Anthea Martin, Cancer Research UK’s science information manager, called for a wider study.

“Diagnosing cancer earlier is key to improving the chances of survival, but any new technique must be thoroughly trialled to make sure it’s reliable and accurate.

“Although this small study is interesting, there are still a lot of unanswered questions about this test and much bigger studies are needed to prove whether it could be useful for diagnosing cancer on a wider scale.”

Bradford Royal Infirmary has been linked to a major cancer breakthrough before, after work was carried out at the hospital in the 1950s to test the use of chemotherapy.

Full story: Page 5.