Several OxCODE researchers from the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences participated in this year’s Cancer Research UK Early Diagnosis Conference 'Driving Evidence into Practice' in Birmingham from June 4-5 2024. This is the foremost conference on how to implement innovations for early diagnosis effectively and equitably.
Oxford’s team gave four oral presentations, presented seven posters, conducted two workshops, and chaired plenary sessions. Here are some highlights:
Special congratulations should be extended to Andres Tamm for being awarded an early career researcher bursary and for delivering a stunning presentation called “It is hard to beat FIT” showcasing his innovation and aptitude in data science applied to colorectal cancer diagnosis, and to Ashley Jackson who came runner-up in the poster competition for outlining the potential benefits of incorporating novel Multi-Cancer Early Detection testing into cancer pathways for patients with symptoms.
At a time when the community is grappling with how to understand and prevent inequalities in cancer outcomes, Oxford’s team delivered workshops on four key considerations when implementing innovations to equitably improve cancer detection with Anna Dowrick showcasing her recently published implementation manifesto. Tanvi Rai illuminated structural issues created by data-driven approaches to the assignment of ethnicity in research.
With our long-time collaborator from Queen Mary’s University London, Dr Georgia Black, we examined how to optimise the delivery of non-specific symptoms pathways, the NHS system innovation now central to reducing delays in diagnosis, building on Oxford's contribution to early pilot work developing the Suspected CANcer (SCAN) pathway.
Brian Nicholson chaired the first plenary session on improving understanding of risk associated with clinical features in primary care. Pradeep Virdee demonstrated innovation in risk profiling, showing us the additional value of incorporating blood test trend into decisions to refer patients with unexpected weight loss for cancer investigation.