Transforming bladder cancer diagnosis – GALEAS Bladder

Each year, ~250,000 cystoscopies are performed in the UK to detect ~20,000 bladder cancers. These invasive procedures are uncomfortable for patients, many of whom need repeated screens, and place significant economic and capacity pressures on the NHS. Improved patient targeting would reduce patient burden and screening cost. Led by Prof Rik Bryan, UoB researchers developed a cost-effective, non-invasive and high-throughput genetic screen, identifying mutations in >95% of bladder cancers and forming the basis of GALEAS Bladder.

Better outcomes for patients

GALEAS Bladder is a non-invasive urine test completed at home. With >90% sensitivity for identifying 450-mutations across 23 genes, it can reduce unnecessary cystoscopies, hospital visits, discomfort and anxiety. This is particularly important for patients requiring repeated procedures and/or facing travel or accessibility barriers.

Transforming practice and services

Licensed to West Midlands-based Nonacus Ltd, GALEAS uses genomic analysis for risk-based triage – helping clinicians decide who requires further investigation, supporting shift from sickness to prevention, and avoiding unnecessary invasive procedures in low-risk patients. It supports shifts from hospital to community and analogue to digital through home sampling, automated genomic analysis and digital reporting. GALEAS costs the NHS less than half the current diagnostic cost.

Impact on the health and care system

A seven-hospital NHS evaluation of 964 patients reported 92% diagnostic accuracy. Early NHS implementation in Leicester reduced referral-to-diagnosis time to 16 days, compared with the NHS 28-day standard. GALEAS has released NHS cystoscopy capacity and helped clear waiting-list backlogs, allowing clinicians to prioritise patients requiring invasive investigation.

Influencing policy and practice

GALEAS is UKCA-marked and implemented in private healthcare and at least 4 NHS Trusts/ICSs across England and Wales, with adoption expanding.

Innovation, investment and UK competitiveness

Led by UoB with University of Warwick contributing bioinformatics analysis, GALEAS exemplifies successful collaboration across the West Midlands. It also demonstrates translation of research from UK universities into a commercial diagnostic product adopted nationally and internationally, strengthening the regional life-science sector and improving NHS service delivery.