Blood test could detect recurrent melanoma up to a year before scans

A 72-year-old man has become the first patient to enrol in a UK trial to detect recurrent melanoma up to a year before it can be picked up by scans.

Paul Smith, from Bury in Greater Manchester, has had the skin cancer behind his ear removed but experts want to see if they can pick up any signs of the disease coming back before it would cause problems.

Their final-stage clinical trial, run by the Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester and the Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute, will involve 1,050 patients in the UK and Australia.

Scientists will take blood samples from people with early-stage melanoma and look for circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) – tiny fragments known to be shed by tumours into the blood.