More than 20,000 NHS patients are expected to take part in a trial assessing whether blood tests can help GPs identify cancers earlier, the government announced on 4 November. The Department of Health and Social Care release says STRIDE-RCT will involve at least 200 GP practices in England.
Patients aged 45 and over who attend with abdominal symptoms will be offered the chance to participate at participating practices. The tests look for signs of several cancers in a blood sample. The department says a positive result can inform a decision on urgent referral, but is not itself a confirmed cancer diagnosis.
The trial will evaluate the tests alongside GPs' judgement before any assessment of nationwide use. It will receive up to £8.49 million through the Office for Life Sciences and the National Institute for Health and Care Research, according to the announcement. That funding and the launch do not establish that the tests improve survival or are ready for routine NHS use.
The University of Birmingham's project record lists STRIDE-RCT as active, with project dates from 1 November 2026 to 31 October 2031 and NIHR funding. Those are project dates, not a promised date for findings. The next substantive step is gathering evidence from the trial; the announcement supplies no accuracy results or completed assessment of wider deployment.
