The Royal Marsden has opened a cancer genomics centre in Sutton intended to develop more complex diagnostic tests and widen access to personalised cancer research across the NHS. The centre brings genomic testing, clinical expertise and research together at the hospital’s Sutton campus.
Its central focus is composite biomarker testing, which combines several kinds of information about a tumour and a patient rather than relying on one marker alone. The planned approach brings together genetic changes, immune signatures and features identified through imaging. Researchers can use computational methods, including artificial intelligence, to look for patterns across those data.
The aim is to improve the development and assessment of tests that may help identify which patients are more likely to benefit from particular treatments or clinical trials. The centre is designed to support testing for trial participants across the country, with samples able to be analysed without every patient travelling to Sutton. It is a specialist testing and research facility, not a new walk-in clinic.
Expanding genomic testing
The facility will also support the hospital’s work on circulating tumour DNA, or ctDNA. This form of liquid biopsy looks for fragments of tumour DNA in a blood sample. The centre is intended to expand the programme and support evaluation of new uses for the technology, as well as its integration with other diagnostic measurements.
The hospital is the cancer testing laboratory for the North Thames Genomic Laboratory Hub, one of seven such hubs in England. Its ctDNA work is expected to be relocated and expanded at the new centre. The trust has previously delivered large-scale ctDNA testing and taken part in a national pilot receiving samples from hospitals elsewhere in the country.
Composite testing differs from a conventional single-marker test because it seeks to interpret several biological signals together. The approach is still a development and validation programme: combining data does not guarantee a useful test, and any candidate must be assessed for reliability and clinical value before it can guide care.
The centre will also contribute to translational research: work that tests whether discoveries made in laboratories can be developed and validated for use in clinical practice. The trust’s existing genomics pathways include MyTrack Myeloma, which integrates genomic-led assessment for multiple myeloma, and Marsden360, a rapid ctDNA service for patients with advanced cancers.
Research and limits
Combining different data types may reveal relationships that a single-marker test misses, but the centre’s opening does not itself establish that a new diagnostic has improved outcomes. Tests must be developed, validated and assessed before their value in routine care is known. The facility is intended to accelerate that process and support collaboration with academic and industry partners.
The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity funded the facility, including investment in expanding ctDNA testing, while the National Institute for Health and Care Research provided an infrastructure grant. The centre is on the Sutton campus shared with the Institute of Cancer Research, within the developing London Cancer District.
The opening marks a new testing and research resource, rather than an announcement that a particular new treatment is available to patients. Its stated purpose is to connect genomic science with clinical pathways and trials, while building evidence for more individualised cancer diagnosis and care.
