Early Detection and Diagnosis Research Committee

Early detection and diagnosis (ED&D) research operates across the full pathway of disease development, from the earliest changes suggesting initiation, to dysregulated growth, promotion to pre-neoplastic states/lesions, malignant conversion, and tumour progression. Each of these stages provide an opportunity to detect and diagnose a shift in state and intervene. ED&D can also be applied post-therapy to detect recurrence. ED&D research also seeks to understand and optimise the role of the public/patients, healthcare professionals and healthcare providers, and to develop and evaluate ED&D approaches in a population or clinical context, generating the requisite evidence to change practice.

We fund research in these areas:

• Identification and validation of early detection markers and understanding of disease trajectory in order to prognose and distinguish which precancerous or early lesions will go on to be consequential from those that will not.
• Identification of high-risk groups for early detection and diagnosis research and implementation, including to develop and evaluate novel detection technologies/approaches, or optimise existing technologies/approaches.
• Data/computation-driven approaches to early detection and diagnosis, including biomedical/health informatics, artificial intelligence and machine learning approaches, computational/systems biology, integration of multi-modal data and modelling.
• Development and use of appropriate preclinical model systems (e.g. cellular, organoid, xenograft, animal model) to recapitulate precancerous states and early cancer for marker identification and validation, technology development and distinction of consequential from inconsequential disease.
• Early detection and diagnosis technology development, including exploratory and translational research involving engineering, physical and data science approaches.
• Non-confirmatory clinical trials of early detection/diagnostic technologies or approaches, to enhance earlier detection/diagnosis.
• Health systems research for early detection and diagnosis: research into clinical pathways for diagnosis (including alternative routes to diagnosis), service organisation, impact and delivery, referral pathways etc.
• Research into clinician behaviour and decision support to enhance timeliness and accuracy of cancer diagnosis, including but not limited to understanding natural history of symptoms and key predictive features, enhancing clinician recognition of symptoms and appropriate referral, and decision support technology generation and evaluation.
• Evaluation of impact of early detection and diagnosis policies and interventions to support cancer early detection and diagnosis in practice.
• Research to understand and intervene in the behaviour of the public to enhance early detection and diagnosis, in order to increase symptom recognition/understanding/reporting, presentation to primary care and/or uptake of detection/diagnostic approaches, including the psychological and societal implications. This does not involve behavioural interventions to modify exposure to risk factors such as tobacco use, alcohol etc.
• Research into the health economics of early detection and diagnosis of cancer.  Does not include late-stage HTA trials.