Could a new blood test detect anal cancer early?
Cancer types:
Anal cancer
Project period:
–
Research institute:
International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC)
Award amount:
£231,861
Location:
France
Dr Gary Clifford and his team want to design a new test that can detect anal cancer early, so that more people with the disease can receive treatment while it is still curable and before their disease has advanced.
Why is this research needed?
Anal cancer is a rare disease that disproportionately affects people living with HIV and men who have sex with men – often marginalized populations. Nine out of ten cases of anal cancer are caused by an infection called human papilloma virus (HPV). HPV can cause several cancers including cervical cancer, but due to the effectiveness of screening programmes more than two thirds of deaths due to cervical cancer have been prevented. This is incredible progress, but we still don’t have a good way of screening for other HPV-related cancers like anal cancer.
Dr Clifford and his team want to change this: developing an effective and non-invasive test for anal cancer could make new early screening programmes possible. This could help protect high-risk individuals and catch cases of anal cancer earlier, making treatment more effective and preventing lives from being cut short.
Thank you to all the Curestarters. Your support makes this project possible and allows us to explore new ways to detect cancer earlier, particularly in people at high risk who currently lack good screening options.
What is the science behind this project?
Dr Clifford and his team have already identified that the DNA from the HPV virus can be found in the blood of patients with anal cancer. HPV isn’t usually found in the blood, so the researchers are keen to find out how early it makes an appearance for patients with anal cancer. They have designed a new test to identify this DNA, which works similarly to a COVID PCR test. Just a few drops of blood could be sent to a lab, and tested to see if the virus is present.
The team have access to an international database of blood bank samples. Using these samples they will be able study the history of people who were diagnosed with anal cancer going back five years to see how soon they can spot the crucial biomarker signs. They will also be able to measure and refine the accuracy of the new test to understand how effective it could be for a potential screening programme.
The project is particularly exciting because the team already know that their test works – they just need time and resources to test it, and now they have access to exactly the patient samples they need to do that. This means it won’t be long before we could be looking at a brand new screening programme for anal cancer.
What difference could this project make to patients in the future?
Dr Clifford and his team are confident that their research could lead to a simple blood test that could be used in the clinic within the next few years. A new screening programme to catch cancer sooner could be revolutionary for people at high risk of anal cancer, allowing doctors to catch the disease sooner and offer real cures for patients.
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