Multi-cancer early detection study completes recruitment

A trial to evaluate a new blood test which aims to identify multiple cancers in their very early stages has reached a major milestone after completing recruitment.

1,350 people have now taken part in the MODERNISED study, with the last participants having their blood samples taken this week.

MODERNISED is examining ground-breaking technology that looks for signals in the blood that suggest the immune system is launching a response to the very first signs of cancer developing and identify which of 10 different cancer types it is.

The study is being led by Professor Andy Davies, Director of the Southampton Cancer Research UK and National Institute for Health and Care Research Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre. It is run by the Southampton Clinical Trials Unit and funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Invention for Innovation (i4i) programme and the Office for Life Sciences.

“Reaching the end of recruitment is a hugely exciting milestone for this trial,” says Dr Victoria Goss, Associate Professor and Head of Early Diagnosis Research at the Southampton Clinical Trials Unit.

“Improving early diagnosis is a priority for us as researchers and for the NHS. Some cancers are extremely difficult to detect in their very early stages when they have relatively few symptoms. But diagnosing cancer early means that treatment can begin sooner, increasing the chances of successful outcomes for patients, which is why developing and evaluating these tests is so important.”

MODERNISED is evaluating the ENLIGHTEN test, developed by biotech company Proteotype Diagnostics Ltd. It looks for changes in the levels of proteins which are released during an immune response to cancer.

“Multi cancer early detection tests are a really exciting area of current early diagnosis research,” says Professor Davies. “There are a number of these tests undergoing clinical trials at the moment. But the technology being used in the MODERNISED study is not currently being used in any other multi-cancer detection tests under investigation and we believe that looking at these changes caused by the body’s immune system in response to cancer may be a good way to test for early signs of the disease”.

Over the past 18 months, 1350 people have signed up to take part in MODERNISED including patients with newly diagnosed cancer who are being treated on the NHS, patients with similar symptoms that are not cancer, and healthy volunteers.

Ian Robinson, from Fawley in Hampshire, is one of those who took part after he was diagnosed with colorectal cancer following routine screening.

“I’m delighted to participate and hopefully help improve the way things are done. My mother died from cancer. I now have children and five grandchildren, so yes, research is absolutely vital. The more cancers that can be identified as early as possible, that can benefit future generations, then it’s obviously the right way to go.”

David Harrington, from Dorchester, also volunteered for the study at Dorset County Hospital when he was diagnosed with lung cancer.

“I’m pleased to be of assistance and I’m willing to help as much as I can. I would have thought most people would want to assist in making treatment better in the future. Otherwise, how do we get the treatment we have now for all manner of things. Anything that anyone can do to help, I’m up for it!”

Hannah Warming is the Trial Manager for MODERNISED at the Southampton Clinical Trials Unit. She said: “We are incredibly grateful to all the people who have volunteered to take part in MODERNISED and to all the research teams at the hospitals involved who have been working hard to complete recruitment.

“But the work does not stop here. Our teams are now analysing all the biological data from the blood samples that have been collected from participants to see how well the test works and whether it has the potential to become a routine part of cancer screening in the future.”

Watch a video of patient David Harrington who took part in MODERNISED

MODERNISED recruited participants at five hospital sites in Hampshire, Dorset and Manchester. The trial is funded by the Office for Life Sciences, part of the Government’s Department of Health and Social Care and Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, and the National Institute for Health and Care Research i4i programme (project identifier NIHR207538). It is sponsored by University Hospital Southampton.

The MODERNISED trial involves patients with 10 solid tumour types - Bladder, Breast, Colorectal, Lung, Melanoma, Oesophageal, Ovarian, Pancreatic, Prostate, and Renal.

For more information on the ENLIGHTEN test developed by Proteotype Diagnostics, see this article .