A major trial supported by the University College London Hospitals Biomedical Research Centre aims to transform the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease through a simple blood test.
The University College London (UCL)-led trial is now welcoming its first participants who will be recruited via memory clinics across the UK.
The ADAPT (Alzheimer's Disease Diagnosis and Plasma pTau217) team, led by Professor Jonathan Schott and Dr Ashvini Keshavan (both UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology) is investigating whether a blood test that measures the protein p-tau217 can improve the early and accurate diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. Demonstrating its value in clinical practice could help deliver earlier and fairer access to diagnosis and future treatments across the NHS.
The trial will examine whether providing the blood test results to patients and their clinicians near the start of an assessment for memory and thinking concerns is able to aid diagnosis and guide decisions on further investigations and treatments. The study aims to recruit 1,100 participants through NHS memory services and will include people from diverse geographic, ethnic and economic backgrounds, and those living with other health conditions to ensure the findings are relevant and inclusive of the broader population.
This landmark trial forms part of the Blood Biomarker Challenge, a multi-million-pound programme supported by Alzheimer’s Society, Alzheimer’s Research UK and players of People’s Postcode Lottery. The initiative aims to determine if the blood test is reliable in a broad range of patients that would make it a form of diagnostics that matches the accuracy of current methods.
Alzheimer’s disease, the most common cause of dementia, is linked to the build-up of two key proteins in the brain called amyloid and tau. One of the most promising biomarkers in the blood, p-tau217, reflects the presence of both amyloid and tau in the brain. Emerging evidence suggests that blood tests such as plasma p-tau217 can detect these proteins as accurately as current methods such as amyloid PET scans and lumbar punctures and therefore may have the potential to offer a less invasive, more accessible, and cost-effective alternative.
Although these blood tests are not standalone diagnostic tools, they could be used as part of a wider clinical assessment to confirm the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease for people who already have memory or thinking problems.
Building on dementia biomarker work at UCL and UCLH supported by the Biomedical Research Centre for many years, the ADAPT team have already assessed and validated the accuracy and performance of the p-tau217 blood test which is now established in the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery's NHS clinical laboratory. The team is now running a clinical trial to demonstrate that the test is accurate, cost-effective, and suitable for integration into routine care across NHS memory services.
Professor Jonathan Schott of the UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology and Chief Medical Officer at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: “We are thrilled to welcome participants onto the ADAPT trial – a critical part of the Blood Biomarker Challenge, which we hope will take us a step forward in revolutionising the way we diagnose dementia. After decades of research, we now have a blood test for Alzheimer’s disease that is backed by strong scientific evidence and provides comparable information to other gold-standard diagnostic tests such as PET scans and lumbar punctures yet is far more accessible, and cheaper. While identifying Alzheimer’s disease early and accurately is already important for enabling access to current therapies and planning care, it will become even more critical as a new generation of treatments emerge that can slow down the decline of memory and thinking. Timely diagnosis will be key to ensuring these advances reach the people who need them most.”