NHS launches blood test trial for abdominal cancers in 200 GP practices across England

What was announced

On 4 November 2026, the Department of Health and Social Care, alongside the Office for Life Sciences and the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, launched a trial named STRIDE-RCT. The UK government is providing up to £8.49 million through the National Institute for Health and Care Research to run the study.

More than 20,000 NHS patients will participate across at least 200 GP practices in England. The trial targets people aged 45 and over who go to their GP with vague abdominal symptoms, like persistent discomfort or bloating. Patients taking part will give one or two tubes of blood during standard appointments. Developed by the University of Birmingham, the tests use artificial intelligence and protein analysis to detect signs of several cancers in a single blood sample. Covered conditions include bowel, stomach, pancreatic, liver, ovarian, kidney, bladder, and prostate cancers.

What it means

Spotting abdominal cancers early is difficult because early symptoms often mimic common, mild illnesses. In England, around 71,000 people receive diagnoses for pancreatic, stomach, liver, ovarian, or bowel cancer every year, leading to nearly 35,000 deaths. Survival rates depend heavily on when a cancer is found. For bowel cancer, about nine in ten people diagnosed at stage 1 survive at least five years, compared to roughly one in ten diagnosed at stage 4.

Currently, only 2% to 6% of urgent cancer referrals end up revealing cancer. This low rate creates long waits and strains hospital resources. If the trial shows that these blood tests work well alongside a GP's clinical judgment, doctors will have a faster way to decide who needs urgent secondary care. A positive result does not diagnose cancer on its own, but it points to where in the body an abnormality may exist.

What the announcement does not tell us

The announcement does not state when the STRIDE-RCT trial will conclude or when the government will release its findings. It also omits how accurate these blood tests have been in prior preliminary studies.

Furthermore, the release does not explain how long patients will wait for their blood test results or how much the tests would cost per patient if rolled out nationwide. If the trial succeeds, the document does not specify a timeline for potential adoption across the wider NHS.