Oncimmune community screening (EarlyCDT Lung)

The EarlyCDT Lung test from Oncimmune is a blood test to support the early detection of lung cancer by detecting the elevated presence of autoantibodies generated by the body’s immune system as a natural defence against cancer cells. Almost 9 in 10 lung cancer patients will survive their disease for at least a year if diagnosed at the earliest stage¹.

Eastern AHSN brokered and part-funded a pilot with Norfolk and Waveney CCG using the EarlyCDT Lung test to screen patients at high risk of developing lung cancer across five GP practices in Great Yarmouth. The pilot enabled the screening of 1,749 smokers and ex-smokers and identified 300 to be referred for a CT scan in secondary care.

We subsequently commissioned the University of Southampton to conduct an independent evaluation of the feasibility study to understand what would happen if the screening programme was scaled to a larger population. This included modelling based on analysis of the data and interviews with staff including GPs, administrators, and phlebotomists.

Find out more and read the full evaluation here. 

Further work by the University of Southampton is ongoing to answer the evaluation questions in depth.

Reference

1. Cancer Research UK. (2021). Why is early diagnosis important?. Available: https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/cancer-symptoms/why-is-early-diagnosis-important. Last accessed 03/05/22