APPLIED-LUNG: Transforming lung cancer screening study

We're inviting people to take part in the APPLIED-LUNG research study if they are invited to have a low dose CT scan as part of the NHS Lung Cancer Screening Service in Cheshire and Merseyside.

The APPLIED-LUNG study aims to explore the use of a new blood test to see if this can be used to accurately identify people who do and do not need a low dose CT scan as part of lung cancer screening.

Why is it important?

To improve early diagnosis and lung cancer survival, the NHS introduced lung cancer screening for people at high risk using low dose computed tomography (CT) scans. While CT scans can detect lung cancers, the widespread rollout of CT screening requires many resources and may not reach everyone who would benefit from lung cancer screening.

A company called Oxford Cancer Analytics (OXcan) have developed a blood test capable of detecting lung cancer by analysing proteins in the blood. The OXcan blood test has been shown to be effective in early studies.

Our research

OXcan is working with the Cheshire and Merseyside Lung Cancer Screening Programme run by Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, and the University of Liverpool. We're asking 11,000 people undergoing a low dose CT scan as part of the NHS Lung cancer screening programme to participate in this study to see if the OXcan blood test can accurately identify people who do and do not need a CT scan.

Who can take part?

You can take part if you've been invited to have a low dose CT scan as part of the NHS lung cancer screening programme in Cheshire and Merseyside.

What is involved?

If you agree to take part, a one-off research blood sample of up to 60 ml of blood (4 tablespoons) will be taken when you attend for your low dose CT scan. We may also ask you for a sputum, saliva, mouth swab and nose swab/scraping sample to test other methods that may help screen for lung cancer and other diseases (such as head and neck cancer and chronic lung diseases) in the future. We will also ask your permission to confidentially access your data.

Find out more

Full details on APPLIED-LUNG can be found via our patient information sheet (PDF, 0.4MB) and via the patient video on https://www.explainmytrial.com/applied-lung/.