Hundreds more people in Yorkshire will benefit from life-saving abdomen scans following new funding from Yorkshire Cancer Research.
The scans, which can help detect kidney, stomach, colon, liver, pancreatic and bowel cancers, will be provided alongside lung health checks, which are being rolled out across the region as part of a new National Lung Screening Programme.
Previous research funded by the charity has demonstrated that kidney and lung screening can be combined to save lives.
Now experts at the University of Cambridge will work in partnership with West Yorkshire and Harrogate Cancer Alliance and Humber and North Yorkshire Cancer Alliance to find the most effective way to invite people for abdomen scans and speed up the screening process.
The new clinical trial will work towards addressing disparities in the diagnosis and treatment of kidney cancer in Yorkshire, which particularly affect people from disadvantaged communities.
Dr Stuart Griffiths, Director of Research at Yorkshire Cancer Research said:
“Screening people before they experience any symptoms means cancer can be found at a very early stage, crucially giving them access to more life-saving treatment options and treatment that’s easier to recover from.
“Kidney cancer does not have any form of screening programme yet, and that particularly impacts Yorkshire, where people are diagnosed with kidney cancer at a disproportionately higher rate than the national average.
“Providing abdomen scans can save lives by finding kidney cancer and other cancers too.”
Clinical trial lead Grant Stewart, Professor of Surgical Oncology at the University of Cambridge and Honorary Consultant Urological Surgeon at Addenbrooke's Hospital said:
“We are delighted Yorkshire Cancer Research is funding the next step in our work to determine if scanning the tummy of people at the same time as they attend for lung cancer screening can identify cancers and other serious conditions in the abdomen which could be life-saving”
More than 900 people aged 55-74 from across Yorkshire at high risk of abdomen cancers and lung cancer will have the combined screening through the new study, which has been named TACTICAL1.
The research team plans to demonstrate that a national-scale study is achievable, with the ultimate aim of introducing the option of an abdomen scan to all lung health checks nationally.
Results from an earlier clinical trial funded by the charity called the Yorkshire Kidney Screening Trial showed that combining screening for lung and kidney cancers could help identify undiagnosed cases of kidney cancer, other cancers of the abdomen and life-threatening non-cancer conditions such as abdominal aortic aneurysms.
The first of its kind in the world, the trial found that nine in ten people accepted the offer of an additional scan of their abdomen and 80% of the kidney cancers identified were found at an early stage.
Dr Juliet Usher-Smith, Associate Professor of General Practice at the University of Cambridge, who is also leading the study, said:
“Having shown that scanning the abdomen at the same time as the lungs is acceptable and cost effective in the Yorkshire Kidney Screening Trial, in TACTICAL1 we will evaluate if we can offer this screening in real world lung cancer screening programmes in two areas of Yorkshire.
“This will provide crucial evidence to inform a possible future larger trial across the UK.”
Every year, more than 1,000 people in Yorkshire are diagnosed with kidney cancer, making it the sixth most common cancer in Yorkshire.
The proportion of people diagnosed with kidney cancer in Yorkshire is higher than the England average, and more than 4 in 10 people are diagnosed at a late stage, when it is often harder to treat.
Yorkshire Cancer Research is dedicated to changing this by funding research and pioneering services to help increase early diagnosis and save lives.
Pudsey lollypop man Ernest Parsons, 79, attended a free lung health check in 2021 and accepted the offer of a kidney scan.
Despite Ernest having no symptoms of cancer, the scan discovered one of his kidneys had early-stage cancerous cysts, which were then successfully removed.
He said:
“If I hadn’t had a kidney scan, I know I wouldn’t be here today. The cancer would have spread, and I wouldn’t have known until I was very ill. By then, it may have been too late.
“I’m definitely in favour of the TACTICAL1 study. Abdomen screening should be available to everyone who needs it. If it saves lives, it’s worth it.”
Jason Pawluk, Managing Director of West Yorkshire and Harrogate Cancer Alliance, said:
“Building the case for targeted screening initiatives is vital to our ambitions to take local action to diagnose more cancers earlier, tackle health inequalities and improve patient experience.
“Effective screening ultimately improves clinical outcomes.”
The Yorkshire Kidney Screening Trial ran alongside the Leeds Lung Health Check, a pioneering lung screening trial funded by Yorkshire Cancer Research and delivered in partnership with Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.
The Leeds Lung Health Check detected more than 400 lung cancers, with most being found at an early stage, and provided vital evidence that paved the way to the introduction of the National Lung Screening Programme.
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