NHS trials 'game changing' blood test which can detect more than fifty forms of cancer

A "game-changing" blood test that could detect more than 50 types of cancer is to be introduced by the NHS, the head of the health service has said. Charities said the move could "save lives on a vast scale" by detecting potentially lethal disease years before symptoms emerged.  The new checks, which use a simple blood test, will be piloted with 165,000 patients in a deal struck by NHS England, funded by a US diagnostics company. Research has found the tests – which identify molecular changes – can detect types of disease that are difficult to diagnose early, such as ovarian, pancreatic and oesophageal cancers. Participants aged between 50 and 79 will be asked to have annual blood tests for three years. If the programme shows that the "Gallieri" test, developed by US-based company Grail, works as well as trials suggest, it will be rolled out to become routinely available. Subscribe to The Telegraph on YouTube ► https://bit.ly/3idrdLH Get the latest headlines: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/ Telegraph.co.uk and YouTube.com/TelegraphTV are websites of The Telegraph, the UK's best-selling quality daily newspaper providing news and analysis on UK and world events, business, sport, lifestyle and culture.