For most of his working life, grandfather David Harrington worked on building sites as a self-employed plasterer, decorator and plumber. He was also a smoker, so he fit the criteria for a routine NHS lung cancer scan.
Now in his 70s, he had lived with breathing difficulties for years, and as he went for the scan, part of him already feared what it might find. The scan confirmed it: he had lung cancer.
“I’ve been subjected to contaminated sawdust, brick-dust, plaster dust, pulling down ceilings throughout my career,” he explained. “And I was a smoker. While I wasn’t surprised by the diagnosis, it was still a really worrying time for me, my wife and our family.”
David was treated with five rounds of radiotherapy at Dorset County Hospital, which went well. While he was there, he was introduced to the MODERNISED study.
Led by researchers from the University of Southampton in partnership with the Southampton Clinical Trials Unit and biotech company Proteotype Diagnostics Ltd, the study is evaluating whether a new blood test can identify multiple cancers in their very early stages. The test looks for signals in the blood that suggest the immune system is launching a response to the first signs of cancer developing and is also being evaluated to see if it can identify which type of cancer it is.
David is one of 1,350 to take part and give a blood sample for analysis. With 10 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren, he believes taking part in research now improves outcomes and treatments for future generations.
He said: “I am proud to take part and 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!”
The MODERNISED 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 funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Invention for Innovation (i4i) programme and the Office for Life Sciences.
“Most current research into multi-cancer blood tests is focussed on detecting abnormal DNA that has been released into the blood stream by cancer cells,” says Professor Davies. “But this circulating tumour DNA cannot always be detected in the very early stages of cancer.
“We are instead looking at levels of certain proteins found in blood. We know that even in the earliest stages of cancer, the body’s immune response can lead to higher levels of these proteins being released, and we believe these may be a good way to test for early signs of the disease.”
Approximately 385,000 new cancer cases are diagnosed every year in the UK*, but for some cancer types the rates of early diagnosis, in stage one or two, remain low.
Early diagnosis will be a key focus for the University of Southampton’s new Institute for Medical Innovation (IMI), a pioneering new research centre that will bring together the greatest minds in medicine, computer science and engineering under one roof to use the latest advances in AI, genomics and tissue analysis to accelerate the development of new treatments. Alongside cancer, it will focus on four other major disease areas, united by the common thread of a misfiring immune system and an urgent need for more research: dementia, sight loss, infection, and respiratory and allergic conditions.
“When cancer is diagnosed later, there are often fewer treatment options available and therefore poorer outcomes for patients,” says Dr Victoria Goss, Associate Professor and Head of Early Diagnosis Research at the Southampton Clinical Trials Unit.
“Improving early diagnosis is therefore a priority for us as researchers and for the NHS. With the IMI, we can combine expertise in a purpose-built space that gives us the best chance of detecting cancer at a stage when it is most treatable.”
