SOUTHAMPTON, England, July 30, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- MODERNISED (NIHR207538), a multi-site UK clinical study has passed a key milestone: over 450 participants have joined the trial evaluating ENLIGHTEN®, a first-of-its-kind blood test, registered with the MHRA, and designed to spot signals of up to 10 cancers at their earliest, most treatable stages. Whereas most multi-cancer early detection research look for fragments of tumour-DNA circulating in blood, ENLIGHTEN measures coloured light signatures from proteins, molecules that can change even when cancers are too small to shed detectable DNA.
Recruitment will continue to 1,000 newly diagnosed NHS cancer patients, and 350 symptomatic and healthy volunteers, from five hospitals across the country. The trial is run by University of Southampton researchers in partnership with the Southampton Clinical Trials Unit (SCTU) and Proteotype Diagnostics Ltd - and sponsored by University Hospital Southampton. Funding comes from the Office for Life Sciences (Department of Health and Social Care; Department for Science, Innovation and Technology) and the National Institute For Health and Care Research (NIHR) i4i programme.
Roughly 385,000 people are diagnosed with cancer in the UK each year, yet only four national screening programmes exist, each focused on a single cancer. Many cancers cause few or non-specific symptoms until advanced.
Dr Victoria Goss, Associate Professor and Head of Early Diagnosis Research (SCTU), stresses that catching cancer sooner expands treatment choices and can improve outcomes; her team aims to develop tests that could flag multiple cancers in one appointment.
Chief Investigator Professor Andy Davies, Director of the Cancer Research UK and NIHR Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre, notes that circulating tumour-DNA may be undetectable in early disease. By collaborating with Proteotype, they are testing whether protein signatures reflecting the body's immune response can reveal the presence, and potentially the likely type, of cancer earlier than DNA-based methods.
Proteotype co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer Dr Emma Yates reports that preliminary studies suggest ENLIGHTEN can accurately detect very early cancers. MODERNISED will now assess performance at scale.
Patient stories underline the need. Ian Robinson, 72, joined after an NHS bowel screening kit led to a colorectal cancer diagnosis despite no symptoms; he hopes his participation will help future generations.
From North Baddesley in Hampshire, comes a powerful reminder from two-time early-stage cancer patient Ian Dickerson:
"When you're told that you have cancer, the bottom drops out of your world," says Ian. "It is awful. I like to think of myself as a pragmatic person but when I was told, I did not know which way was up. But I've been very lucky. Because of my early diagnosis I have not had to have chemotherapy or radiotherapy. If you can get that early diagnosis and get that treatment, hopefully minimal treatment, then life can carry on. I have a good life, and I'm lucky to be able to live it."
"I think it's absolutely brilliant that we're looking at early diagnosis for a range of cancers. The focus is often on the biggest cancers, but we're now starting to look at early diagnosis for other cancers, as we should. I'm just an ordinary bloke and I've had two, apparently fairly rare cancers. It can happen to anyone and the earlier the diagnosis the better."
About Proteotype Diagnostics Ltd
Proteotype is a pioneering diagnostics company dedicated to the development of advanced multi-cancer early detection and personalised medicine tests that measure the host response to tumour development. By leveraging cutting-edge technologies and comprehensive research, Proteotype aims to revolutionise cancer diagnostics and improve early detection, ultimately enhancing patient outcomes and survival rates.
Media: Liz Allaway
L.Allaway@soton.ac.uk
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