FORECEE (4C) was launched in 2015, a four-year European-wide programme to develop a screening test that aims to prevent four cancers- breast, womb, ovarian and cervical.
Professor Martin Widschwendter and his team at University College London (UCL) and the FORCEE team developed a new test, the WID-Test to detect and predict the risk of four key cancers that affect women and people with gynae organs.
The first results showed that the test was able to detect up to 30% more women with breast and ovarian cancer than current genetic-based tests.
The WID-Test works by looking at the DNA Methylation of cells taken from a cervical screening sample. DNA methylation sits on top of the DNA and tells the cell which DNA to read and action, it’s like the software of our cells if the DNA is the hardware. DNA methylation is altered by lifestyle factors like diet, hormones and smoking.
The WID-Test doesn’t just detect cancers. The test also looks at how each individual responds to their environment and lifestyle factors, which can also impact the risk of developing cancer in the future.
By bringing these two factors together, the researchers are aiming to develop a screening programme that predicts the risk of these four cancers and enables women and people with gynae organs to take steps to help prevent cancer from developing.
Breast, womb, ovarian and cervical cancers account for more than half of all cancers in women in Europe, that’s around 250,000 people diagnosed with these cancers each year in Europe alone, and almost 45,000 die from them.
The WID-Test could change the future of cancer screening practices. By looking at genetics, lifestyle and environment, this allows a full view of future risk of developing these four key cancers, from just one cervical screening sample.
Next steps
The next stage in the FORECEE programme is to take the WID-Test into large-scale population trial. This will help find out who the screening test could benefit. For example, all women and people with gynae organs, or just those known to be at a higher risk (e.g. those with a BRCA alteration).
The WID-test has also been utilised to detect womb cancer, called the WID-easy. The WID-easy test has been awarded £2M for a clinical trial across four hospitals in London from the National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR).
The WID-test will look for the footprints on a woman’s DNA as she goes through life, recording the track she is taking and whether she is heading towards cancer. The WID-test will revolutionise screening and enable a more personalised approach to cancer prevention and detection, where women will be screened, monitored or treated based on their individual, and changing, risk.
The results published so far show that our tests can out-perform currently available methods and we are looking forward to running trials to validate these initial findings in large numbers of women – Professor Martin Widschwendter
Find out more
Discover more
Find out more about the progress made in the FORECEE programme.
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