Over 20,000 NHS patients will take part in the £8.49m trial developed by the University of Birmingham and funded by the Office for Life Sciences through the Government's National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).

Secretary of state for health and social care Yvette Cooper said: ‘Innovations like these are a key part of our National Cancer Plan, which will provide faster diagnosis, more effective treatment and better care for every patient, while also investing in the trials and technology that offer hope of curing cancer for good.'

Participating patients aged 45 and over who visit their GP with abdominal symptoms – such as persistent bloating or discomfort – will be offered the chance to take part in the trial. 

Around 71,000 people are diagnosed with pancreatic, stomach, liver, ovarian or bowel cancer in England each year, and there are almost 35,000 deaths from these cancers.

Abdominal cancers are often found too late. Around nine in ten people diagnosed with bowel cancer at stage 1 survive at least five years, compared with around one in ten at stage 4.