The PERFECTS II project is an exciting new PhD study being led by the team at St. Mark's, looking into whether radiographers could successfully interpret CT Colonography bowel scans, as well as radiologists, if training is provided. 

CT Colonography is a scanner-based test which is an alternative to Colonoscopy, and also presents the ability to look at the other organs in the abdomen and pelvis outside the colon, including the appendix.  It can be more comfortable for patients than some other screening options.

If the data being investigated by the study team proves to be positive, this could have a very significant impact to increasing colon cancer diagnosis in the UK.  If more colon cancer diagnostics become available, this cancer could be detected earlier, saving lives.

We're delighted that this study has been made possible by the funds raised as a result of the Andrew Edwards Challenge, which took place in September 2022 in honour of Andrew, who very sadly died from bowel cancer. 

In the words of his close friends, "Andrew was a family man whose life was tragically cut short by Bowel Cancer on 31 December 2020. He left behind his wife Caroline and teenage boys Oliver, Charlie, and Riley to follow in his footsteps and carry forward his legacy. He enjoyed a successful City Career, and was widely respected as CEO of Saxo Markets UK and ETX Capital. Andrew was an accomplished sportsman who completed the Marathon de Sables in 2015 and completed the London Marathon twice, the second time post his diagnosis wearing his chemo pump. His oncologist, the eminent Professor Cunningham of the Royal Marsden Hospital, described Andrew as “an extraordinary man, held in the highest esteem by all the team at the Royal Marsden” and “one of the most incredible people I have had the privilege to look after.”

"Andrew was not aware that he had Bowel Cancer until it was too far progressed. If diagnosed earlier, his life could have been saved." 

In September 2022 more than 200 of Andrew's friends and family got together to "celebrate Andrew with the passion he lived by." Collectively they walked or ran the distance from Johannesburg to London - a total of 5,635 miles -  raising an incredible £175,000 for 40tude curing colon cancer, enabling this dedicated research study to get underway.