Testing in patients of a new type of test (Alchemi) which can theoretically detect All types of cancer using chemistry and mathematical software.

A new blood and urine test called Alchemi uses chemistry and mathematical software to detect any type of cancer from a single patient sample. Current cancer tests often look for one cancer at a time, or rely on symptoms appearing before diagnosis. This means many cancers are caught late, when treatment is harder. Alchemi aims to solve that by checking a patient’s sample against a library of unique chemical signals—one for each cancer type—and flagging any match. A small pilot study has already shown it can correctly identify patients with cancer. If this larger trial succeeds, Alchemi could become a simple, non-invasive screening tool for multiple cancers at once. That would shift cancer detection from reactive to proactive, catching tumours early enough for surgical removal. It could also tell doctors where in the body the cancer is and how advanced it is, guiding treatment decisions without needing a biopsy. The research focuses on common, surgically treatable cancers, so the immediate impact would be on routine diagnostic pathways in the NHS.