iDx-LUNG - Integrating non-invasive diagnostics into NHSE Lung Health Checks in Wessex and Yorkshire

The iDx-Lung programme brings together a consortium of academic institutions, NHS England Lung Health Checks and five commercial partners to accelerate progress in the early diagnosis of lung cancer. 7000 people from Wessex, Yorkshire and Manchester attending for lung health checks at mobile CT scanners in the community will be asked to give samples of blood, and cells collected from inside the nose, for testing. We will analyse the samples for the presence of changes that may indicate the presence of early cancer development: antibodies against cancer proteins; raised levels of cancer-related proteins; circulating DNA from cancers, and changes in the expression of genes in the cells lining the nose. All of these are tests which have been developed by different companies but never used in combination or with CT scanning, to see which might be the most efficient at finding early lung cancers. We will combine the data from all these tests into a single database with complex analytical capabilities in order to allow the partners in the consortium to visualise the results in whichever way is most appropriate and informative. By doing this we will establish the best way to select people for investigation, either for initial CT scans, or for further investigation if the CT scan findings are not clear. We hope to streamline the process of detecting cancers and reduce the NHS resources that are needed in order to find each new case.