TruCheck™ - Early Cancer Screening Blood Test

TruCheck Intelli is a blood test that isolates circulating tumour cells, cells that have broken away from a solid tumour and entered the bloodstream, and examines them for markers that identify the type of cancer and its likely organ of origin. It covers more than 70 solid-tumour types including breast, lung, colorectal, prostate, pancreatic, liver, ovarian, kidney, bladder, thyroid, skin and head and neck cancers. It is intended for people without symptoms as a screening check, and Preventis was one of the first providers to offer it in the UK. It does not detect blood cancers such as leukaemia or lymphoma.

No. TruCheck is a screening test for people who feel well. If you have symptoms that could be cancer, such as a lump, unexplained bleeding, persistent pain, unexplained weight loss or a change in bowel habit, the right route is your GP and an urgent referral for the specific investigation those symptoms need, which the NHS provides within two weeks. A screening blood test would delay that and could give false reassurance. Our doctor's pre-test call exists to check this, and if the test is not right for you the doctor will say so and point you to the right route.

It depends on what you are trying to achieve. For someone with a strong family history of cancer, or who has watched relatives diagnosed late, a screening test that looks across more than 70 cancers from one blood sample offers information no routine check-up does, and the chance of finding a cancer before it causes symptoms, when treatment works best. Against that, it is expensive, it does not find every cancer, and a positive result leads to further investigation that may find nothing. The pre-test call with our doctor is there to help you weigh this for your own situation, and you can withdraw at that stage.

TruCheck's published validation studies report high specificity, meaning very few false alarms in people without cancer, and sensitivity that varies by cancer type and stage, being higher for cancers that shed cells readily and lower for very early or slow-growing tumours. The exact figures are set out in the manufacturer's clinical data and our doctor will discuss them with you before you decide. Like every screening test it can miss cancers and can occasionally flag something that turns out not to be cancer, which is why a positive result is always followed by targeted investigation rather than treated as a diagnosis.

Your report indicates that tumour cells were found, the likely type of cancer and the organ they came from. A Preventis representative  calls you to explain the result and writes a referral letter you can take to your GP for urgent investigation of that organ on the NHS, or use privately. A positive result is not a diagnosis; imaging and usually a biopsy are needed to confirm what is there. Most people who take the test receive a negative result.

That no circulating tumour cells were found in your sample at the time of testing. That is strong reassurance, but not a guarantee: very small or early tumours may not yet be shedding cells, and blood cancers are not covered. Keep up NHS screening for bowel, breast and cervical cancer, see a GP about any new symptoms, and consider repeating the test every one to two years if you want ongoing surveillance, as many of our customers do.

Once you book, one of the PReventis calls you to go through your medical history and reasons for testing and to confirm the test is suitable. We then send you the sample kit to take to your appointment at one of 250+ clinics, or a nurse brings it to your home. The venous sample is sent to a specialist laboratory and your results are emailed within 10 to 15 working days, followed by a call from our doctor to explain them if anything is found. No fasting or preparation is needed.

Galleri and similar tests look for fragments of tumour DNA carrying methylation patterns, whereas TruCheck isolates whole circulating tumour cells and characterises them. Both aim to screen for many cancers from one blood sample and to indicate the organ of origin; they differ in the material they detect, the cancers they cover and their published performance. Neither replaces NHS screening programmes or a GP assessment of symptoms. Our doctor can talk through which approach suits you.

Adults over 40 without symptoms who want a broader check than routine screening offers, particularly those with a family history of cancer, previous heavy smoking or other exposures, or a personal history of cancer that has been treated; we also accept people aged 35 to 40 with a strong family history of cancer. It is not suitable for anyone with current symptoms, who should see a GP, or for anyone currently under investigation or treatment for cancer. Our doctor confirms suitability before the test goes ahead.

Results are emailed within 10 to 15 working days of your sample reaching the laboratory. If anything is found, a Preventis representative calls you to explain the result and provides a referral letter for further investigation.