Lateral flow test can spot return of a brain tumour

Remember all those lateral flow tests we used to do during the Covid pandemic and occasionally still do? Well, that useful technology has a life beyond Covid - it can detect brain tumours.

- DR MIRIAM STOPPARD

A team at Nottingham Trent University is developing a simple test that patients use at home, similar to those used during the pandemic.

The collaboration with Sheffield University will target aggressive recurring tumours that currently lead to almost 200,000 deaths a year globally.

While the recurrence of these cancers following initial treatment is often inevitable, the unpredictable timing makes them difficult to detect early, leading to a poor prognosis and failure of treatment.