Clinical leadership for NHS cancer register

Dr Helen Hanson is clinical lead for a newly launched NHS England programme for genetic cancers, which will provide a national register.

The NHS National Inherited Cancer Predisposition Register will collect information on patients with clinically relevant alterations in over 100 genes linked to an increased risk of cancer, with plans for it to help fast-track thousands more people to screening and testing, while speeding up access to personalised therapy and trials. Helen’s role has been to work closely with the team to develop the register and other NHS England programmes to ensure maximum clinical benefit, working closely with Clinical Genetics regional services to ensure the infrastructure supports eligible patients.

The register brings together national data on patients with clinically relevant alterations in over 100 cancer susceptibility genes, creating an infrastructure to support earlier diagnosis, targeted screening, personalised treatments and access to clinical trials. It captures patients tested through existing NHS genomic pathways across all seven Genomic Laboratory Hubs and regional genetics services in England.

Helen has worked closely with NHS England to develop the clinical and operational design of the register, ensuring it delivers real benefit for patients and is embedded into routine care across the country. Nationally, over 4,000 cases have already been submitted to the register. Exeter and Bristol have each contributed more than 100 new cases, alongside a large-scale retrospective data collection exercise involving thousands of patients per centre.

Now the register is established, Helen is working with clinical academics nationally to develop its research potential and explore how the register can support future studies in cancer prevention, screening and personalised care.

This programme positions the Exeter NIHR BRC at the forefront of national efforts to link genomic medicine, data infrastructure and translational cancer research.