Thousands of people invited to help NHS trial new cancer test in Chesterfield

Selected participants are being invited to take part in the NHS-Galleri trial at a mobile clinic in Calow before it moves to Nottingham at the end of the month

People aged between 50 and 77 in Chesterfield and other parts of the East Midlands are being asked to look out for an invitation from the NHS to take part in the world's largest trial of its kind.

Selected participants, who must not have had a cancer diagnosis in the last three years, will visit a mobile clinic located in the car park opposite the Co-op store in Calow before it moves to Nottingham at the end of the month.

They will be asked to give a blood sample before being invited back after 12 months, and again at two years, to give further blood samples.

The potentially lifesaving Galleri test checks for the earliest signs of cancer in the blood.

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It is a simple blood test that research has shown is particularly effective at finding cancers that are difficult to identify early – such as head and neck, bowel, lung, pancreatic, and throat cancers – and works by finding chemical changes in fragments of genetic code that leak from tumours into the bloodstream.

Head of the NHS East Midlands Cancer Alliance, Michael Ryan, said: “This simple blood test could play a major part in the revolution in cancer detection and treatment. #

"By finding cancer at an early stage, before signs and symptoms even appear, we can give people the best chance of survival as the cancer is easier to treat.

“So, if you are invited, I’d really encourage you to take part, as you could be helping to transform cancer care and protect yourself.”

The NHS-Galleri trial, the first of its kind, aims to recruit 140,000 volunteers nationally from different background and ethnicities, including thousands in the East Midlands, to see how well the test works in the NHS.

It 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, and results are expected by 2023.

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