A simple blood test that detects bowel cancer earlier is one step closer to being available on the NHS after showing excellent results in a trial. The Raman Spectrometry (RS) blood test has been developed by researchers at Swansea University led by professors Dean Harris and Peter Dunstan, with funding from Cancer Research Wales and Health and Care Research Wales.
Results from the groundbreaking study involving 27 practices and 595 patients across west Wales showed 79% of early-stage bowel cancers and 100% of advanced bowel cancers were picked up by the test. Early comparisons with other tests currently available in primary care have shown the RS blood test has greater sensitivity for the detection of bowel cancer.
It is hoped the non-invasive test will dramatically cut waiting times for diagnosis and reduce the need for unnecessary procedures such as colonoscopies. Support from Life Sciences Hub Wales has now enabled Welsh start-up business, CanSense, to secure an additional £1.2m from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) to further develop the blood test to use across Wales. You can get more health news and other story updates by subscribing to our newsletters here.
