Thousands of cancer patients from minority ethnic backgrounds will have access to “groundbreaking” genetic testing on the NHS that previously discriminated against them.
This routine form of genetic testing, used before chemotherapy treatment, could save the lives of Black and minority ethnic cancer patients who already face poorer health outcomes after diagnosis compared with their white counterparts.
Before undergoing chemotherapy, cancer patients across England undergo genetic testing that can lead to changes in treatments to reduce the adverse side-effects chemotherapy can have, including mouth sores, hair loss, nausea and fatigue, and which can also be fatal. Up to 40% of the 38,000 patients treated with fluoropyrimidine-based chemotherapy in England will develop an adverse drug reaction to the treatment.
Until last year, these genetic tests only looked for four types of DPYD gene variants, which are mainly found within the DNA of people from white European backgrounds. Consequently, this genetic testing was less effective on Black cancer patients, leading them to be more likely to experience severe side-effects including death after chemotherapy.
These genetic tests are now being offered by the NHS across England to include testing for a fifth DPYD genomic variant, which is more prevalent among people from Black and minority ethnic backgrounds.
Dr Veline L’Esperance, the senior clinical adviser at the NHS Race and Health Observatory, said that the introduction of these new genetic tests represents “tangible results for patients who have historically been left behind”.
“Patients of African ancestry deserve the same standard of safety as everyone else, and now clinicians have the means to deliver it,” L’Esperance said. “What makes this significant is that it moves the conversation about ethnic health inequality in cancer care from words to action. This is the first concrete, clinical response to the evidence that Black and ethnic minority patients were being failed by tests designed around white European genetics.”
Source: The Guardian, 13 April 2026
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