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It is hoped that a simple finger-prick test could be enough to diagnose Alzheimer’s with sufficient accuracy for clinicians to use routinely. The study, The Bio-Hermes-002 study, led in the UK by Life Arc and the Global Alzheimer's Platform Foundation will involve 1,000 volunteers aged over 60 in the UK, US and Canada. Read full BBC story
The new study reflects the growing excitement about the use of blood biomarkers in diagnosis to achieve diagnosis at scale and reduce the cost and time taken for patient testing.
Professor Vanessa Raymont is leading Dementia Platform UK’s own blood biomarker study, READ-OUT. She welcomes the latest new trial.
“This study is an exciting opportunity for the comparison of very accessible markers with more validated markers such as PET imaging. This will definitely help us understand whether the blood biomarkers that look promising really do measure aspects of Alzheimer's disease in real world populations. It will add vital data alongside the Blood Biomarker Challenge-funded READ-OUT study, which is looking at these, plus additional blood biomarkers in a UK memory clinic population.”
READ-OUT also focuses on easy-to-do tests, but for a range of dementias including: Alzheimer’s; vascular; dementia with Lewy bodies; and frontotemporal dementia. It involves 3,200 participants from a diverse population. The Blood Biomarker Challenge is a 5 year programme run by the Alzheimer’s Society and Alzheimer’s Research UK with funding from players of the People’s Postcode Lottery and others. It will assess the best ways of obtaining samples and could lead to the health service using a number of tests taken from a blood sample alongside digital tests of cognition.
A second study ADAPT, is also part of the Blood Biomarker Challenge. Based at UCL, it is focusing on the p-tau217 biomarker, which could improve the detection of Alzheimer’s disease. ADAPT will see if measuring p-tau217 helps improve diagnosis rates and the care people receive.
It is hoped the investment in these studies will bring significant change to the experience of people with cognitive issues.