People in Sydenham will be among the first to have their blood taken for a new NHS cancer trial,

A Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust nurse has become one of the first people to take part in a new NHS cancer trial, describing it as "really exciting" and urging south east Londoners to get involved in the trials.

South east London has been selected as one of pilot areas in the country to take part in what is the world's largest trial of a 'revolutionary' new blood test which is able to detect more than 50 types of cancer before symptoms even appear.

And it has now emerged that people in Sydenham will be among the first to have blood samples taken at mobile testing clinics in retail parks and other convenient community locations in the area.

The potentially lifesaving Galleri test checks for the earliest signs of cancer in the blood and the NHS-Galleri trial, the first of its kind, aims to recruit 140,000 volunteers nationally, including thousands in south east London, to see how well the test works in the NHS.

News Shopper: the NHS-Galleri trial, the first of its kind, aims to recruit 140,000 volunteers nationally, including thousands in south east Londonthe NHS-Galleri trial, the first of its kind, aims to recruit 140,000 volunteers nationally, including thousands in south east London

The Galleri trials launched last week in front of national press, and Temi Adeloye, a Specialist District Nurse practitioner for Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust was one of the first people to take part.

Temi, and her husband, Rev. Dr Emmanuel Adeloye, were interviewed, with the former saying: "I lost my dearest loving mother to pancreatic cancer when she was only 67.

"She had worked hard all her life to bring up her six children and passed away only two brief years after her retirement and less than 90 days after cancer diagnosis.

"Pancreatic cancer mostly shows symptoms only when it has advanced and when basically nothing could be done in terms of treatment.

News Shopper: Temi Adeloye, a Specialist District Nurse practitioner for Lewisham and Greenwich NHS TrustTemi Adeloye, a Specialist District Nurse practitioner for Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust

"I am a specialist district nurse practitioner and my husband, Rev. Dr Emmanuel Adeloye is a Clergyman and Vicar in the Church of England. In our jobs, we meet a lot of people living and dying with cancer.

"It's disheartening that many people die when they might have had much more of a chance of surviving or having a better quality of life had they been diagnosed earlier."

"So when I heard about this trial, it sounded really exciting - I strongly recommend to anyone aged 50-77 and living in South East London, to look out for your letter and please volunteer for this trial if they can."

The Galleri test, which is currently available in the US, can detect cancers that are not routinely screened for and can pinpoint where in the body the disease is coming from with a high degree of accuracy.

It works by looking for chemical changes in fragments of genetic code - cell-free DNA (cfDNA) - that leak from tumours into the bloodstream.

Some cancer tumours are known to shed DNA into the blood a long time before a person would start experiencing symptoms.

The Galleri test does not detect all cancers and does not replace NHS screening programmes, such as those for breast and cervical cancer, but it has been found to be particularly effective at finding cancers that can be difficult to identify early - such as head and neck, bowel, lung, pancreatic, and throat cancers.

In the US, it has been recommended for people at higher risk of cancer, including the over-50s. The NHS aims to recruit 140,000 volunteers in eight areas of England to see how well the test works in the health service.

Several NHS Cancer Alliances are supporting the plan, with people invited to take part from Cheshire and Merseyside, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, the North East, West Midlands, East Midlands, East of England, Kent and Medway, and South East London.

Letters are being sent to people from different backgrounds and ethnicities aged between 50 and 77 asking them to take part.

Participants, who must not have had a cancer diagnosis in the last three years, will be asked to give a blood sample at a local mobile clinic and they will then be invited back after 12 months, and again at two years, to give further samples.

NHS chief executive Amanda Pritchard said the quick and simple blood test "could mark the beginning of a revolution in cancer detection and treatment here and around the world."

She said: "The Galleri blood test, if successful, could play a major part in achieving our NHS Long Term Plan ambition to catch three-quarters of cancers at an early stage, when they are easier to treat.

"So if you are invited, please take part - you could be helping us to revolutionise cancer care and protect yourself."

The first results from the study are expected by 2023. If successful, the NHS in England plans to extend the rollout to a further one million people in 2024 and 2025.