Several NHS hospitals are preparing to use an AI-powered blood test to help assess women referred for possible womb cancer before invasive checks are carried out.
According to The Guardian, around 90,000 postmenopausal women in England are referred by GPs each year for checks after experiencing heavy bleeding. About 10,000 women are diagnosed with womb cancer annually, and around 2,700 die from the disease.
How the PinPoint test works
The test, developed by Leeds-based PinPoint Data Science, uses machine learning to assess cancer risk from blood markers. It classifies patients as low, elevated, or high risk based on an analysis of around 30 markers.
PinPoint said the test costs around £30 and gives clinicians a risk score for use within existing cancer referral pathways. The score can help inform whether a patient is monitored, referred for further investigation, or prioritised for faster assessment.
PinPoint describes the tool as a multi-cancer test. The company said it has been used across gynaecological, lung, upper gastrointestinal, head and neck, and lower gastrointestinal cancer pathways.
The test is being introduced after a trial involving 16,481 patients referred through urgent suspected cancer pathways across Yorkshire. The trial included women referred with symptoms that raised concern about possible womb or gynaecological cancer.
About one in 10 women referred because of heavy bleeding were found to have cancer, according to the reported trial results.
PinPoint said the test correctly identified 99.1% of cancers as elevated or high risk and delivered a negative predictive value of 99.8% for women in the lowest-risk group.
Mid Yorkshire NHS Teaching Trust plans to use the test for six types of gynaecological or upper gastrointestinal cancer. Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust plans to use it for gynaecological cancer.
Current diagnostic pathway
Under the current pathway, women referred for suspected reproductive system cancers usually undergo a pelvic examination that includes a transvaginal ultrasound scan. The procedure involves inserting an ultrasound probe into the vagina to measure the thickness of the womb lining, and some women find it uncomfortable or painful.
If doctors continue to suspect cancer, patients can then be referred for further checks, including a biopsy and hysteroscopy, an examination of the inside of the womb. PinPoint said its test is intended to identify women at very low risk before those procedures are used.
The company said the test could spare about one in five referred women from needing a transvaginal ultrasound scan. That would amount to around 18,000 women a year in England.
Professor Sean Duffy, chief medical officer at PinPoint Data Science and a former NHS England national clinical director for cancer, said the test’s value lies in ruling out women at very low risk.
Dr Jacinta Walsh, a GP at King’s Medical Practice in Normanton, West Yorkshire, said patients can require up to six GP visits before cancer is ruled out. She said the test could shorten that process and free up capacity for other patients.
Tracy Jackson, a consultant gynaecologist and cancer unit lead at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said most women seen through the current referral route do not have cancer, while the investigations can be uncomfortable or distressing.
Jackson said the test could help clinicians triage patients before hospital-based investigations. She said low-risk patients could be ruled out in primary care, while higher-risk patients could be prioritised for further checks.
Other NHS AI deployments
Recent NHS AI deployments include MEMORI at Kent and Canterbury Hospital, an AI triage tool in the NHS App, and AI-powered chest X-ray tools for suspected lung cancer pathways.
East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust is using an AI system called MEMORI at Kent and Canterbury Hospital to assess infection risk from routine patient data. The system analyses information already included in patient records, including blood tests, blood pressure, temperature, observations, medications, and demographics.
NHS England said an AI triage tool in the NHS App is expected to reach more than 200,000 patients within 12 months and become available to all NHS App users by April 2028.
The government has also committed £20 million to roll out AI-powered chest X-ray tools to all NHS trusts in England by 2029. The tools are already available in about half of NHS trusts in England and have supported assessment for more than four million patients being investigated for lung cancer.
Further evidence will be needed to assess how the test affects patient outcomes, referral decisions, and NHS diagnostic capacity.
Cancer Research UK described the PinPoint test as promising but said more research is needed to understand its benefits for patients and the NHS. Samantha Harrison, a spokesperson for the charity, said early detection saves lives, but patients are not currently being diagnosed quickly enough.
The charity said the test could help rule out endometrial cancer in some women through a blood test, without the need for further investigations.
(Photo by Adam Mills)
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