Trialling the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to speed
up cancer diagnosis is a recurring theme in this year's winners of Humber and
North Yorkshire Cancer Alliance’s Cancer Research and Innovation Awards programme.
This is the second year running that the Cancer Alliance has
run an innovation scheme, setting aside £400,000 to fund a wide variety of
projects to improve early cancer detection or improve treatment or recovery for
cancer patients in Humber and North Yorkshire. This year, the scope was widened
to include research projects.
The Cancer
Research and Innovation Awards programme, which reaches out directly
to staff working with patients across the NHS, voluntary sector and academic
research partners, has proved enormously popular with 30 applications received,
totalling £900,000.
Dr Kartikae Grover, Clinical Director, Humber and North
Yorkshire Cancer Alliance, said: “The fact that for the second year running we
have been inundated with entries by frontline staff demonstrates the crucial
role that research and innovation can play in improving NHS services, by using
the finite resources at our disposal.
“For the first time this year we have included research projects
and received some excellent entries, including tests that can speed up cancer
diagnosis. This is very encouraging and supports our aim to increase
collaboration across partners and boost cancer research in the Humber and North
Yorkshire area"
Pamela Parker, PhD, Consultant Sonographer at Hull
University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and part of the winning team behind a
project that hopes to use AI to speed up the diagnosis of prostate cancer,
said: “The award will support the radiology team to improve the pathway for men
with suspected prostate cancer, by helping us to finance the installation of
computer assisted imaging (CAI) software which facilitates the interpretation
of diagnostic MRI scans of the prostate.
"Consultant Radiologist Dr Oliver Byass and I are
delighted to be awarded the funding and to have the opportunity to develop a
novel use of CAI in this high-demand cancer pathway"
Rachel Iveson, Programme Lead for Cancer Diagnostics and
Innovation said: "We are hugely grateful to the clinical staff, patient
representatives and our partners – including Health Innovation Yorkshire &
Humber, Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board and the VCSE
Collaborative – for helping us with the difficult task of selecting the
successful projects.
"We are so looking forward to seeing the benefits
these schemes will bring to patients."
Details of the winners:
· A
pilot using AI to speed up the diagnosis of lung cancer
· Developing
a blood test to enable earlier diagnosis of pancreatic cancer
· Using AI
to speed up diagnosis of prostate cancer
· The
introduction of a risk tool to improve colonoscopy outcomes
· Evaluating
the impact of cancer care co-ordinators in primary care
· The analysis
of a dataset to improve use of faecal immunochemical testing (FIT)
· A
pilot to test whether gynaecological trousers can reduce fear and embarrassment
in vulnerable groups of women undergoing cervical screening (including ethnic
minorities and women who have been victims of sexual abuse)
· Using AI
to support multi-disciplinary breast cancer meetings
· Introducing
CALM training to support staff when working with people who have metastatic
cancer
· A
trial to determine whether exercise in breast cancer patients can reduce
cardiotoxicity
· Using AI
in North and North East Lincolnshire to improve awareness of cancer symptoms
and increase uptake of cancer screening
For more information about
the Cancer Alliance’s Research and Innovation Award initiative, please visit: www.hnycanceralliance.org.uk/cancer-research-and-innovation-awards-2025-26/.