'Multi-cancer' blood tests coming to some GP surgeries soon

The government-funded trial, led by the University of Birmingham, will assess whether the tests are accurate enough for wider NHS use.

The idea of a blood test that can identify multiple cancers is not new.

A separate NHS trial of a test called Galleri recently failed to meet its main goal of reducing diagnoses of late-stage cancers, although researchers are still assessing its potential benefits.

Prof Peter Johnson, NHS England's national clinical director for cancer, said detecting abdomen cancer early was "notoriously difficult" because symptoms can easily be mistaken for other less serious conditions.

Earlier diagnosis gives patients a much better chance of successful treatment and survival.