Multi cancer detection tests or MCDs can detect many cancers through a simple blood test. Many detect fragments of cancerous DNA that have broken off a tumour and are circulating in the blood. They can often then identify where the cancer may be.
The NHS is currently involved in the words largest trial of one such test. The Galleri test is made by US firm Grail and the company says its mission is to detect cancer early when it can be cured. Heavyweight investors include Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates.
More than 140,000 volunteers took part in the trial and the results will be known next year. If successful, the test may be rolled out further. File on 4 Investigates looks at how effective such tests are and whether the trial will show it can save lives.
Medical journalist Deb Cohen speaks to one woman whose cancer was found by the test and successfully treated. But she also hears from firefighters in America - where it's available to the public - who say it missed some cancers and some people who got a positive result were found not to have the disease after undergoing diagnostic procedures - a so called false positive.
With many hospitals trusts missing cancer treatment targets, what is the best way forward for the NHS to improve outcomes
Reporter: Deb Cohen
Producer: Paul Grant
Technical producer: Craig Boardman
Production co-ordinator: Tim Fernley
Editor: Tara McDermott
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The IT bug that's caused chaos in the courts
An ambitious plan to digitalize the courts was meant to remove the need for hundreds of thousands of paper documents. But File on 4 Investigates has discovered an IT system, introduced as part of a £1bn project, has been plagued with technical faults - causing crucial information to go missing, be overwritten, or appear lost. The government body that runs the courts in England and Wales has now checked hundreds of thousands of benefit and child support appeals to identify if any were affected by missing evidence. But sources say the IT bug was known about for years before action was taken.Original journalism by Alys Harte.
Reporter: Datshiane Navanayagam.
Producers: Lorna Acquah, Fergus Hewison.
Editor: Tara McDermott.
Technical Producer: Nicky Edwards.
Production Co-ordinator: Tim Fernley.
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Chemsex: Hidden Pleasures, Hidden Harms
File on Four explores the risks some gay men are taking by habitually mixing their sex lives with drug use. The practice, known as Chemsex has been on the gay scene for more than a decade. It involves taking illegal and addictive substances like Crystal Meth and GHB.
While the programme hears from some who say they can manage their use and it heightens their sexual pleasure, others are falling into destructive patterns of addiction, decline and even death.
Reporter Mobeen Azhar tries to assess the scale of the problem and hears from medical professionals who fear it could be a crisis that’s going under the radar. Presenter: Mobeen Azhar
Producer: Alex Collins
Sound: Nicky Edwards
Production Coordinator: Tim Fernley
Editor: Nick Holland
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High Stakes: Gambling in the armed forces
File on 4 Investigates examines the scale of problem gambling in the armed forces and the devastating impact on those serving, veterans and their families. A new study seen exclusively by the team reveals nearly half of naval trainees who gambled were at risk of harm. This latest research builds on a growing body of evidence that points to a hidden problem across the forces that’s on the rise. We ask if the MOD is aware of the challenge and if it’s doing enough to help those in need.Reporter: Alastair Fee
Producers: Jim Booth
Technical Producer: Craig Boardman
Production Coordinator: Tim Fernley
Editor: Tara McDermott
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Abused for Our Food
When journalist Georgie Styles is sent unpublished videos of farm workers in Britain being ‘treated like animals’, she begins to investigate the dark side of our food system.She uncovers numerous referrals of labour exploitation, and hears allegations of workers living in moldy caravans, being trafficked, verbally abused and forced to urinate in bottles.Her year-long investigation goes from farm workers to our favourite supermarkets.With gripping first-person testimony, unheard recordings and new documents, this File on Four documentary makes you think about the food in front of you in a new way.Presenter: Georgie Styles
Producers: Georgie Styles and Dan Ashby
Sound Design: Jarek Zaba
Executive Producer: Philip Abrams
Commissioning Editor: Hugh LevinsonAbused For Our Food is a Smoke Trail production for BBC Radio 4 and was produced as part of the Bertha Challenge Fellowship.
USA