Over 1,000 participants join study aimed at improving the efficiency of bowel cancer screening

A study aiming to improve the efficiency of bowel cancer screening is over halfway towards its goal of recruiting 2,000 patients in Wales.

The study, COLOSPECT, is looking at the benefits of the addition of a simple blood test to the current screening process.  So far, more than 1,200 patients have been recruited to the study which is sponsored by Swansea Bay University Health Board and funded by a grant from Cancer Research Wales.

Bowel cancer survivors have welcomed the study and the patients who are taking part in it, with one man – Jeff Horton, a member of Health and Care Research Wales’ Public Involvement community - adding: “Any test that improves early detection of bowel cancer is to be welcomed. If it is caught early, then bowel cancer is largely curable. 

"Studies like this are important in helping to find new diagnostics and treatments and participation from public members plays a vital role." 

Bowel cancer is the fourth most common cancer in Wales, with almost 2400 people diagnosed each year. Early detection is key, with 90% of patients surviving if it is found and treated early. However, screening services are under significant pressure, with the number of people waiting for a colonoscopy in Wales having more than doubled since 2020. 

People aged between 50 and 75 are routinely offered at-home Faecal Immunochemical Test (FIT) kits to help detect early-stage bowel cancers. Patients who return a positive FIT test are then invited for a colonoscopy. 

COLOSPECT is studying the introduction of an additional blood test into this screening pathway. The Raman blood test is a highly sensitive blood test which can identify a molecular fingerprint unique to bowel cancer. This could help improve the efficiency of screening, enabling clinicians to prioritise patients who need their colonoscopies quickly, while reducing the need for unnecessary colonoscopies. 

It is also hoped that offering a simple blood test, alongside a faecal test, will encourage more people to come forward for screening, especially among populations who are more likely to develop bowel cancer, but have low rates of uptake of screening programmes.

Professor Dean Harris, consultant colorectal surgeon in Swansea Bay University Health Board, said: “Patients who have a positive FIT test may still have a normal colonoscopy, for example due to bleeding into the bowel from other benign causes. These colonoscopies could be avoided by a negative Raman blood test, releasing resources for more-timely colonoscopy for more people, allowing faster detection of cancer.

“It is also expected that the Raman blood test is more accurate than the FIT test at detecting polyps, the premalignant bowel lesions that cause cancer. Its use could therefore detect patients with the riskier polyps, to allow them to be removed at colonoscopy, resulting in cancer prevention.

“It is hoped that the COLOSPECT study will define the test accuracy, with the potential next step being further studies looking at where the Raman test is best placed in practice.

“It is hugely encouraging to have recruited over half of our target of 2000 patients and hope to continue to recruit to COLOSPECT over the next 12 months. By participating in the study Welsh patients are playing their part in helping to find answers and improve treatment for one of Wales’ most common cancers.”

Currently just 7% of screening colonoscopies find cancer. It is estimated that between 20-30% of colonoscopies could be averted by use of the Raman blood test after a positive FIT result, which would save considerable resource per year for the NHS (estimated at 1,000 less colonoscopies per year, at a recurrent saving of £1M), and avoid inconvenience and time off work for screening participants. 

Dr Lee Campbell, Head of Research at Cancer Research Wales, added: “As the Welsh Cancer Research charity, and long-term funder of this research, Cancer Research Wales is delighted to see the Raman blood test for the early detection of bowel cancer deliver on its promise on a national scale. We would like to thank all the people who have participated in the study so far.”

For further information on the Raman blood test visit the Cancer Research Wales website