Clinic offers blood test that screens for more than 50 cancers

A Leicester clinic is offering a new blood test which screens for a signal shared by more than 50 types of cancer.

The Health Suite, a private doctor-led medical and wellness centre, is one of the first private healthcare providers in the UK to offer the Galleri blood test following the publication of initial results from a 140,000-participant trial earlier this year.

The test requires a single blood sample and looks for a signal shared by more than 50 cancers, including pancreatic, ovarian, oesophageal and head and neck cancers, most of which have no routine NHS screening programme.

The Galleri test was trialled by the NHS in what was described as the largest study of its kind in the world.

When a cancer signal is detected, the test can also predict where in the body it is likely to have come from, with around 93 per cent accuracy.

Dr Dominic Greenyer, GP and director at The Health Suite, said: “Patients are looking for more proactive means to screen for cancer, above the four main ones already covered.

“People are increasingly taking more interest in their health and are keen to access any information that can highlight potential issues well ahead of time.

“What the Galleri test offers is a chance to find a signal before symptoms appear. That is a meaningful shift in what we can offer patients, and it’s why we wanted to make it available to patients.”

The test works by analysing cell-free DNA in the blood.

Tumours shed fragments of DNA carrying distinctive chemical markings known as methylation patterns, which act as a fingerprint.

Machine learning has been used to identify whether those patterns indicate a cancer signal.

Results from the NHS-Galleri trial, presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting this year, found the test detected substantially more cancers than standard care alone and shifted more diagnoses to earlier stages, with fewer patients presenting as emergencies.

The trial did not meet its primary endpoint of a statistically significant reduction in late-stage disease.

Greenyer said the test is not a replacement for existing NHS provision.

He said: “This sits alongside cervical, breast and bowel screening – not instead of it.

“A negative Galleri result does not mean you don’t have cancer, and every positive result needs proper diagnostic follow-up.

“We spend a good deal of time on that conversation before anyone gives a blood sample because informed consent matters enormously with a test like this.”

The test has a specificity of 99.6 per cent, meaning fewer than one in 200 results is a false positive.

Around six in 10 positive results are confirmed as cancer.

The Health Suite is offering the test to adults aged 50 and over and to younger patients with an elevated personal or family risk.

It is not suitable during pregnancy, for those aged 21 or under, or for patients with an active cancer diagnosis.