Trial assesses feasibility of adding abdominal CT scanning for kidney cancer to ongoing lung screening trial in Yorkshire.

A new video introduces the pioneering Yorkshire Kidney Screening Trial (YKST), which is led by Professor Grant Stewart (Department of Surgery) and Dr Juliet Usher-Smith (Primary Care Unit) at the University of Cambridge.

The trial is assessing the feasibility of adding abdominal CT scanning for kidney cancer to the ongoing Yorkshire Lung Screening Trial. It is delivered in partnership with Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, the University of Leeds and Leeds City Council, with funds from Yorkshire Cancer Research.

Kidney cancer is the most lethal of all urological cancers and the 7th commonest cancer in the UK. It’s largely curable if detected at an early stage, but most patients have no symptoms. So there is a strong case for exploring the potential of a screening programme.

This study, led by the team at the University of Cambridge, is the first in the world to assess the feasibility and acceptability of adding kidney cancer screening to lung cancer screening and, if successful, will provide the data to inform a large trial of kidney cancer screening alongside lung cancer screening in the future.

YKST opened to recruitment in May 2021, and was one of the most successful recruiting trials in Leeds Teaching Hospital Trust last year. The kidney scan fits well within the flow of the Leeds Lung Health Check, and by the end of February 2022, YKST had recruited almost 2600 participants to the study in just over 10 months of recruitment.

 

Learn more

Research briefing: Targeting kidney cancer screening at people at higher risk shows promise and would be acceptable to the public – Primary Care Unit (cam.ac.uk)

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Lucy Lloyd, Communications, Primary Care Unit