| Dear Supporter, Welcome to the Summer 2022 CRUK Early Diagnosis newsletter. The last few months have been a very busy period for the cancer community, with a lot of activity focused on the development on cancer strategies in the UK, as well as continued efforts to drive recovery of cancer services.
We were very pleased to see how many of you registered for our last CRUK ED virtual spotlight sessions. We know that reducing late stage diagnoses can only be achieved with action across a range of fronts which is why we are keen to use these sessions to showcase how the community is addressing the challenge in a range of ways.
The first session focused on the development of Target Product Profiles, following a recommendation from the Early Detection and Diagnosis Roadmap that there should be more advice and guidance available for those innovating in cancer diagnostics, particularly on desired test performance characteristics. The second session highlighted novel international comparisons from the ICBP on emergency presentations. We were pleased to welcome speakers from across the UK and internationally to share the latest data, insights and recommendations on how to reduce diagnoses via this route.
We always welcome suggestions from the community on what topics you would like us to focus on next, please email any ideas to edconference@cancer.org.uk
For those that are taking a break this summer, we hope you're enjoying it!
Best wishes, Sam Harrison
Policy, Information and Communications Directorate at Cancer Research UK |
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Secure your place at this year’s Early Detection of Cancer Conference After two years of virtual meetings, the Early Detection of Cancer Conference is back in person in Portland, Oregon, from 18th – 20th October 2022. Join the brightest minds in cancer research to discuss, debate and share the latest thinking and results in early detection research. Hear from a host of experts from across the globe including Jos Jonkers (Netherlands Cancer Institute), Molly Stevens (Imperial College London), Karen Knudsen (American Cancer Society) and John Carpten (University of Southern California). Expect a jam-packed agenda with lightning talks from submitted abstracts, networking sessions, posters and expert panel discussions. Confirmed sessions include:
• Mechanistically-informed early detection from models to humans
• Emerging technologies for early detection
• Microbiological risk factors for early detection
• What is needed for an early detection/diagnostic test to reach clinical practice
We’re providing free registration and travel bursaries to five UK-based students or post-docs who submit abstracts to present at this year’s conference. Submit an abstract by 19th August to be considered for a lightning talk, with general abstract submission closing on 2nd September. |
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 £6.4M INVESTMENT FOR LATEST CYTOSPONGE TRIAL Together with the National Institute for Health and Care Research, we’re jointly investing £6.4m over the next 14 years in BEST4, the latest trial for Cytosponge as a screening device for detecting Barrett’s oesophagus.
We hope that this trial will provide the final evidence of using Cytosponge for screening on the impact on oesophageal cancer mortality. Rebecca Fitzgerald (University of Cambridge) and Peter Sasieni (Kings College London) will lead the BEST4 trial, which will build on previous Cytosponge studies. |
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|  CANCER RESEARCH MATTERS PODCAST To celebrate 20 years of Cancer Research UK (CRUK), we’ve launched a brand new podcast, Cancer Research Matters, to reflect on some of the great discoveries and breakthroughs made in the past two decades and consider where we might be in the next 20 years.
In our most recent episode, we spoke to Professor Sara Zanivan, who won a Cancer Research UK Early Detection Primer Award, about her work utilising proteomic changes for cancer early detection.
Sara is based at the Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute where she uses a number of proteomics approaches to explore the tumour microenvironment. Her lab also applies their proteomics expertise and capability to develop early detection approaches, specifically utilising mass-spectrometry to examine how large proteomic changes could be used in the clinic. |
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 Detecting cancer early in Northern Ireland In partnership with the Public Health Agency (PHA) and Northern Ireland Cancer Network (NICaN), Cancer Research UK is running an advertising campaign to encourage those most at risk of cancer to present to their GP with potential signs/symptoms. The campaign, funded via cancer charities to support Northern Ireland’s cancer strategy, is targeted at people aged 50+ from more deprived backgrounds.
The campaign launches on 1st September 2022 and will be live for six weeks across Northern Ireland on TV, social media, print publications, and in community pharmacy sites. We will be sending out briefing papers to GP practices and also secondary care with key information about the campaign to support a potential increase in referrals as well supporting a GPNI GP webinar (NI GPs only) on 15th September 2022. |
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|  Latest 'Help Us, Help You' Campaign NHS England's ‘Help Us, Help You’ campaign - ‘Lung Cancer Symptoms’ re-launched on 1st August 2022 and will run until October. The aim of this campaign is to raise awareness of the key symptom of lung cancer – a cough that lasts for three weeks or more, and to encourage those who have this symptom to contact their GP practice. The campaign targets adults over the age of 60, who are more at risk of lung cancer, and particularly those from C2DE socio-economic groups. The campaign also targets friends and family members to encourage loved ones to contact their GP practice if they are experiencing the key symptom of lung cancer.
To access free resources to highlight the campaign please click the link below to go to the NHS Campaign Resource Centre. |
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Specialist Training to Tesco Pharmacists and Pharmacy Colleagues
As part of our Health Charity Partnership, Cancer Research UK, the British Heart Foundation and Diabetes UK have been working with Tesco to deliver specialist training to Tesco pharmacists and pharmacy colleagues to support their conversations with the public. Shoppers can now pop in and talk to one of the team wearing a ‘Let’s Talk’ badge. They are available for private and confidential conversations in consultation rooms. The training will help them provide more information and support to help people lower their risk of these serious conditions through small changes to their day-to-day routine. Click below to find a list of participating pharmacies. |
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 Skin Cancer Guide It's been a hot summer so far!! Cancer Research UK have produced a Skin Cancer Guide for Health Professionals, which highlights key considerations to support the recognition and referral of suspected skin cancer. |
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|  A Spotlight on Bowel Cancer Bowel cancer has been a hot topic in the UK press thanks to the fantastic work of the late Dame Deborah James who sparked a national conversation about the disease after being diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer - at the age of just 35. Primary care may see more people coming forward with potential signs and symptoms of bowel cancer in response to Deborah’s passing and her incredible awareness efforts. There may also be more queries from patients about the Bowel Cancer Screening Programmes. The BSG/ACPGBI has also published new UK-wide guidelines to support GPs to use Faecal Immunochemical Testing (FIT) alongside clinical judgement for patients with Lower GI symptoms. We have produced a new Bowel Cancer Resource Guide to highlight CRUK resources that can support health professionals to recognise, refer and manage suspected bowel cancer. |
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Updated GP Contract Hub for 2022/23 To support GPs in England deliver on the 2022-23 Primary Care Network (PCN) specification on the early diagnosis of cancer, Cancer Research UK has updated its free, online one-stop contract hub for GPs. It is quick and easy to access. The information on the hub summarises what GPs need to do, and how to get started, including recommendations on what to do from Cancer Research UK front-line GPs. The hub has case studies, hints and tips, evidence-based practical resources, training and further support, including new information about the inclusion of FIT testing as an indicator in the Investment and Impact Fund. If you have any questions or feedback about the Hub, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with Lindsay Hough, Senior Development Manager at CRUK Lindsay.Hough@cancer.org.uk |
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| | Early Diagnosis Data Hub Produced by the Cancer Intelligence team at Cancer Research UK, the Early Diagnosis (ED) Data Hub houses the latest cancer data on early diagnosis in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Contents include: • Incidence by stage – England 2019 data now available
• Survival by stage
• Bowel, breast and cervical screening uptake and coverage
• Urgent suspected cancer referral rates
• Routes to diagnosis – Updated with 2018 data for England and 2016 data from Northern Ireland
Request for feedback
We are keen to understand how the ED Data Hub is used and what improvements can be made to make it as useful and informative as possible. Please complete this short (3 minute) feedback form to help us understand whether and how you use the Hub. |
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Early Diagnosis Research Virtual Spotlight Sessions – June 2022 In June 2022, we held two Virtual Spotlight Sessions: - Taking forward the ED&D Roadmap: A Spotlight on Target Product Profiles (TPPs)
- Exploring diagnosis of cancer as an emergency: Evidence and Insight from the UK and other countries
The sessions had fantastic engagement from the ED community with over 400 delegates signed up. The speakers delivered thought provoking and engaging presentations which sparked interest during the Q&A sessions. Only those who registered can view the recordings of the sessions, so if you haven't, be sure to register for our future events. Keep your eyes peeled as we will be hosting further virtual events in Autumn 2022.
If you have suggestions for future topics do email us using the button below.
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Publications Shout Out We’ve recently updated our range of cancer-specific early diagnosis leaflets, covering six common cancers – breast, bowel, cervical, lung, prostate and skin cancer. Based on the latest evidence, our ‘Spot cancer early’ leaflets are aimed at increasing people’s awareness of the signs and symptoms of cancer and encouraging early presentation and screening participation where possible.
All our publications are accredited by the Patient Information Forum and are available to order free of charge from our Publications website – delivery is also free. As well as printed copies, patients and healthcare professionals can also download ‘printer-friendly’ copies of our leaflets from the Publications website and mobile-optimised versions will be coming soon. |
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| | | Join NB Medical & Cancer Research UK to discuss all things related to bowel cancer. You will be able to claim 1 CPD credit for this online webinar with a downloadable certificate provided. 8:00 PM 13 September 2022 |
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 Thank you for reading our Early Diagnosis Newsletter. To help us improve please tell us what you think using the feedback form here  |
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| | | The Strategic Evidence Team |
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| Contact the Strategic Evidence team here. |
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