‘Significant breakthrough’: NHS hospitals adopt faster, more accurate bladder cancer test

University hospitals of Leicester recently became the first NHS trust in England to adopt the rest, with at least 16 others following suit by the end of the year. Photograph: Rui Vieira/PA View image in fullscreen University hospitals of Leicester recently became the first NHS trust in England to adopt the rest, with at least 16 others following suit by the end of the year. Photograph: Rui Vieira/PA ‘Significant breakthrough’: NHS hospitals adopt faster, more accurate bladder cancer test Five hospitals in England and Wales have switched to test taken at home, rather than invasive hospital procedure NHS hospitals are using a new way of diagnosing bladder cancer that is faster, more accurate and more convenient for patients than the existing test. Doctors said the Galeas bladder test is a major breakthrough because it involves a urine test taken at home rather than an invasive procedure done at hospital which is uncomfortable for patients. Growing numbers of hospitals in England and Wales have switched to the test for a cancer that kills almost 6,000 people a year in the UK. Staff have found more people are being tested because it is a painless and convenient alternative to the standard method. Five hospitals have already adopted the test – University hospitals of Leicester recently became the first NHS trust in England to do so – and at least 16 others will follow suit by the end of the year. Testing for bladder cancer is traditionally done by a cystoscopy, which involves a tube and camera being inserted into the body through the penis or urethra to let doctors examine the bladder. The discomfort involved meant quite a few patients decided not to have the procedure. However, the Galeas bladder test is non-invasive and involves only a urine sample. It is a DNA-based test that uses the 23 genes most commonly associated with bladder cancer. An NHS trial, involving 964 patients at seven hospitals in England and Scotland in 2024-25, found that it correctly identified whether 92% of participants had bladder cancer or not. It is the 11th most common cancer in the UK. In contrast, cystoscopy only had an 81% accuracy rate. That is because it is difficult to identify bladder cancers of differing shapes, shades and sizes with a manually-operated keyhole camera, said Jeff Bousfield, chief executive of Nonacus, the biotech firm behind the Galeas bladder test. It hopes to improve the test’s 92% accuracy further as its NHS rollout continues, he added. Patients are referred for bladder cancer testing when they have haematuria – blood in their urine . “Cystoscopy is an invasive investigation to look at the inside of the bladder,” said Jayne Douglas-Moore, a consultant urological surgeon at the Leicester NHS trust. “The patient is given an anaesthetic gel but otherwise remains awake. While it only takes one-to-two minutes it is an intimate examination and can be embarrassing or cause discomfort. It is commonly declined.” In contrast, the Galeas bladder test is bett