Dr Rakesh Modi is a GP and Primary Care Unit researcher on the landmark NIHR-funded SAFER trial investigating screening to detect an undiagnosed heart condition responsible for one in ten strokes. Here he writes on the difficult balance between perceiving individual stories and large statistics simultaneously, and how both the pandemic and the SAFER trial […]
New research finds public enthusiastic about kidney cancer screening
In this guest blog, Laragh Harvey-Kelly, a final-year medical student at the University of Cambridge, explains her recently published work on public attitudes to kidney cancer screening. She undertook this research as part of a Student Selected Component supervised by Dr Juliet Usher-Smith. Kidney cancer is on the rise and is projected to increase over […]
Current evidence on screening for renal cancer
Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) rates are increasing worldwide, with high mortality and a high proportion of patients asymptomatic at diagnosis – so should we be screening for RCC? Patients with kidney cancer, their caregivers and clinicians alike, define the study of early detection and treatment of RCC as one of their top research priorities. The […]
Risk Prediction Models for Kidney Cancer: findings from our systematic review
In this blog, Dr Hannah Harrison, NIHR Systematic Review Methods Fellow at the Prevention Group, introduces research on approaches to screening for kidney cancer. Hannah and her colleagues looked at the usefulness of mathematical models predicting the likelihood of an individual developing kidney cancer in a recently conducted systematic review, published on 14 July 2020 […]
New guideline for colorectal cancer screening prioritises informed choice over maximised uptake
A new BMJ Guideline on colorectal cancer screening, prepared by a panel including Dr Juliet Usher-Smith at the Primary Care Unit, is the first to avoid a blanket recommendation for colorectal cancer screening for all above a specific age. Instead the guideline suggests a personalized and risk-based approach for people aged 50 to 79 with […]
Reducing health risks for mothers who develop diabetes during pregnancy: new study explores women’s experiences of post-partum screening
Women who develop diabetes during pregnancy – called gestational diabetes or GDM – have a relatively high risk of developing type 2 diabetes after their babies are born. Blood tests to screen for diabetes after the birth of the baby, and annually thereafter, are recommended to avoid delays in diagnosis and treatment. However, many women […]