It is our role to bring together the key organisations to coordinate cancer care and improve outcomes locally. We do this via strong clinical leadership. Within the Alliance core team, we have a Clinical Director, a Primary Care Lead and a Lead Nurse, and also our Clinical Advisory Group Leads who are our specialists, drawn from across the network, to advise and guide on specific tumour sites. We also liaise closely with our clinical partners in primary and secondary care to deliver the goals and priorities for the year.
Our current priorities are:
- Prioritising and implementing national guidance to reduced unwarranted variation in the treatment of lung cancer
- Working with colleagues within the radiotherapy operational delivery networks to introduce new technologies including SABR
- Working with colleagues at the Children’s and Teenage and Young Adults operational delivery networks to implement the national service specifications for these patients
- Working with the Central and Wessex Genomics Medicine Service Alliance to implement genomic testing and influencing care in cancer patients
We are also bringing new innovations to the network as part of national projects, we currently are participating in three national trials, in the form of the colon capsule endoscopy project, the cytosponge project and the Grail study.
GRAIL
New multi-cancer early detection blood test study opens across Thames Valley
A multi-cancer early detection(MCED) blood test that can predict where in the body a cancer is could both help establish cancer as a likely source of symptoms and direct further tests.
The nation-wide SYMPLIFY study, supported by the National Institute for Health Research, will investigate a new multi-cancer early detection (MCED) test in the NHS, known as Galleri, for patients with non-specific symptoms that may be a result of cancer.
The aim of the SYMPLIFY study, which has been facilitated by Thames Valley Cancer Alliance, to open at Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust and Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust, is to demonstrate how the Galleri test could be used to increase cancer detection rates and improve diagnostic pathways. Recruitment of participants started in summer 2021, with the research team seeking to recruit around 6,000 patients with early signs and symptoms suspicious for cancer from sites across England and Wales by 29 October 2021.
A number of patients have already been recruited across the Alliance from the three participating hospitals. These patients will have been referred by their GP for rapid diagnostic tests looking for cancer and a Galleri blood sample will also be taken.
Galleri is a blood test that can detect over 50 different types of cancers with a low false positive rate of less than 1 percent. Over 47 of these cancer types lack recommended screening in the UK today. Using revolutionary next-generation sequencing technology, Galleri has the potential to identify multiple types of cancers at earlier stages of disease compared with traditional diagnostic methods, which should increase the chance of successful treatment and improve outcomes for patients.
SYMPLIFY will assess how Galleri can be used to benefit patients with non-specific symptoms that may be a result of cancer. The SYMPLIFY study is one of the UK-based clinical trials that GRAIL is supporting, along with the recently announced NHS-Galleri trial evaluating the Galleri test in primary care settings. Successful results may see this technology radically revolutionising how cancer is identified in the future.
Clinical Director for Thames Valley Cancer Alliance, Jennifer Graystone said: “Early detection of cancer is one of our biggest priorities as an Alliance and of the NHS Long Term Plan. We are delighted to be facilitating our Trusts to take part in this study because it could make such a big difference to our patients and their cancer treatment and outcomes.
“It is hoped that the Galleri blood test that is being used in the SYMPLIFY trial could streamline and further speed up the diagnosis process we currently see in our rapid diagnostic pathway. This has benefits for both patients and the NHS service provision.
“I would like to thank all the participants who will be taking part in this valuable research. Without their participation research and advances in diagnosis and treatment would not be possible.”
Colon Capsule Endoscopy (CCE) pilot project
Within our alliance we have a pilot site for this national innovation pilot. This pilot involves miniature cameras which patients can swallow to get checked for cancer are being trialled across the NHS.
The imaging technology, in a capsule no bigger than a pill, can provide a diagnosis within hours.
Known as a colon capsule endoscopy, the cameras are the latest NHS innovation to help patients access cancer checks at home.
Traditional endoscopies mean patients need to attend hospital and have a tube inserted whereas the new technology means that people can go about their normal day.
An initial group of 11,000 NHS patients in England will receive the capsule cameras in more than 40 parts of the country.
Cytosponge
We have one site across TVCA participating in this national pilot. Cytosponge is a capsule that is swallowed whilst holding onto a string. The capsule (about the size of a vitamin pill) dissolves and the sponge expands and when brought up, it collects cells from oesophagus that are analysed to detect if there are any cells which are unexpected or abnormal.
