A breakthrough brain cancer test can give patients a diagnosis in less than two hours – slashing the agonising wait for answers and allowing treatment to begin sooner.
The NHS is piloting the rapid genetic test, which can identify the exact type of tumour in hours rather than the weeks it can currently take.
NHS medical director Professor Frankie Swords hailed the technology as a ‘huge leap forward for patients’ that could ‘completely transform’ brain tumour diagnosis.
The cutting-edge test analyses the DNA of a small tumour sample taken during a biopsy or even surgery – meaning patients could get an answer while they are still on the operating table.
Crucially, the result could help surgeons decide how much of the tumour they can safely remove without damaging healthy brain tissue.
It could also mean chemotherapy or radiotherapy starts sooner and give patients faster access to clinical trials, some of which require the exact genetic make-up of a tumour before they can take part.
Around 13,000 people are diagnosed with a brain tumour in the UK each year. They are among the hardest cancers to treat, with just one in ten patients surviving more than five years.
A breakthrough brain cancer test can give patients a diagnosis in less than two hours – dramatically cutting the agonising wait for answers
This bleak outlook makes it the biggest cancer killer of children and adults under 40.
There are more than 100 types of brain tumour, ranging from slow growing to aggressive, each of which respond differently to treatment.
Professor Swords said: ‘For people with suspected brain tumours, getting the right diagnosis quickly can feel like a race against time, while waiting weeks for answers can be agonising for them and their families.
‘This remarkable rapid test has the potential to completely transform how we diagnose brain tumours, with results reaching patients in a matter of days rather than weeks.
‘This is a huge leap forward for patients – a faster diagnosis means they can start the right treatment or access clinical trials sooner, while for some patients it could mean surgeons can make potentially life-changing decisions about their surgery while on the operating table.’
Yvette Cooper, Health and Social Care Secretary, said: ‘This is an incredible breakthrough in the technology available to tackle brain tumours, providing vital genetic information to surgeons within a matter of hours or days, and helping them to provide the most effective treatment to patients faster than ever.
‘It is also a tribute to the UK’s world-leading life sciences sector – and our strength in genomics – that NHS patients are routinely among the first in the world to benefit from these kind of innovations.
‘Through the skill of our NHS staff, and the investment provided by our National Cancer Plan, we will transform the care provided to patients with brain tumours, and give every individual the best chance of successful treatment.’
The standard process for diagnosing brain tumours currently involves doing MRI and CT scans and then extracting a tumour sample which is taken away, tested, and examined under a microscope in a pathology lab, which can take weeks to definitively diagnose the type of tumour.
The NHS England pilot builds on the successful pilot already under way in Nottingham and Birmingham and will initially take the technology into five specialist centres before expanding further across England.
The rapid genomic test was developed by scientists and medics at the University of Nottingham and Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust.
In a recent operation at Nottingham University Hospitals, a tumour sample was taken in theatre and tested in the same hospital during the operation.
The sequencing itself took around 20 minutes, with a result fed back to the surgical team less than two hours after the sample reached the laboratory – while surgery was still under way.
One patient already to have benefited is Steve Palmer, 55, from Nottingham, who was diagnosed with a grade 4 glioblastoma after collapsing at the gym – despite suffering no previous symptoms.
His tumour was tested while surgeons were operating, with the sequencing itself taking around 20 minutes and an initial result fed back to the surgical team less than two hours after the sample reached the laboratory.
Mr Palmer told the BBC that getting the result so rapidly had spared him weeks of uncertainty.
‘Getting that quick diagnosis removed weeks of anxiety,’ he said.
‘It wasn’t the result I wanted to hear but it means I can get on with the next phase of treatment and recovery, and get on with fighting whatever it is I’ve got to fight.’
The first phase of the pilot will introduce the testing across University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust, King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
Additional genomic laboratory sites in Bristol, Oxford, Leeds and Manchester will join in the second phase.
