Emerging biomarkers for detecting gastrointestinal cancers in primary care | Paige Druce

7 October 2020

PAIGE DRUCE
Research Coordinator
The Primary Care Collaborative Cancer Clinical Trials Group (PC4)

Detecting gastrointestinal (GI) cancers in primary care is challenging. There is a wealth of literature surrounding the development of non-invasive biomarkers to help advance the early detection of cancer, but what do we really know about the potential for these novel biomarkers to be implemented in primary care populations?

This seminar will discuss the results of a systematic review collaboration with CanTest researchers at the University of Cambridge which aimed to identify novel biomarkers for the detection of GI cancers that have the potential to be developed for use in primary care. The review highlights the variation in approaches to the standardisation of validating new biomarkers, and the difficulty in translating their potential for use in primary care and the general population.

Paige Druce is an epidemiologist and the Research Coordinator for the Primary Care Collaborative Cancer Clinical Trials Group (PC4) led by Professor Jon Emery and based at the University of Melbourne. A significant part of her role at PC4 is to support the development of cancer in primary care research through evidence synthesis and systematic reviews. Before commencing her role with PC4, she completed a Master of Science (Epidemiology) at the University of Melbourne.