NEWS
Study moves newborn SMA screening closer
Hundreds of thousands of babies will be screened as part of a new NIHR-funded trial evaluating newborn screening for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). This marks a significant milestone which will bolster the evidence base that could pave the way towards national rollout of SMA screening across the UK.
The £4 million study, called SENS
(Service Evaluation for Newborn Screening for SMA), is led by the University of Oxford. It will assess the feasibility, clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of SMA screening in the NHS Newborn
Immunotherapy for stomach cancer on NHS
More than 1,500 people a year with an aggressive form of stomach cancer are set to receive a new treatment available on the NHS, after NICE recommended durvalumab – the first immunotherapy for people with this form of cancer. The targeted treatment helps people
live longer and can help prevent the disease from returning. Durvalumab, also known as Imfinzi and made by AstraZeneca, is recommended for adults whose stomach (gastric and gastro- oesophageal junction) cancer has not spread extensively and can be removed through surgery. Gastric and gastro-oesophageal
junction cancer – where tumours form in the stomach or where it meets the oesophagus – is frequently diagnosed at an advanced stage. Even when surgery is possible, the cancer returns in many patients, and only around half of people survive five years after diagnosis. Clinical trial evidence shows that
durvalumab plus FLOT chemotherapy (fluorouracil, leucovorin, oxaliplatin and docetaxel) before and after surgery, then on its own after surgery, increases how long people have before their cancer gets worse and how long they live compared with chemotherapy alone. Durvalumab is given by intravenous infusion every four weeks. It works by blocking the PD-L1 protein, which cancer cells use to hide from the body’s immune system.
June 2026
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Blood Spot Screening Programme. Experts are collaborating across
leading UK universities, NHS laboratories, and patient organisations - including the charity SMA UK. The programme is designed to screen up to 755,000 newborns across England. The study is expected to begin in August 2026. SMA is a rare but severe genetic
condition. It leads to progressive muscle weakness and can be life threatening in infancy. New disease-modifying therapies are now available in the UK. But their effectiveness depends critically on early,
pre-symptomatic treatment. Professor Laurent Servais in the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Oxford, is leading the study. He said: “This study represents a decisive step towards ensuring that every child born with SMA in the UK has the opportunity to be diagnosed and treated before irreversible damage occurs. We now have therapies that can fundamentally change the trajectory of this disease if we can identify affected infants early. Our goal is to provide the evidence needed to support the introduction of SMA into routine newborn screening nationwide, ensuring equitable access for all families.” The study will examine how a population-wide newborn programme for SMA could potentially work in practice and inform a recommendation on future roll- out of SMA screening. Seven NHS newborn screening laboratories are participating.
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