Newsroom
Our latest news and
announcements.
AI drives earlier cancer diagnosis and 808 percent ROI: presented at 2025 ASCO QCS
C the Signs
A new study presented at the ASCO Care Quality Symposium 2025 and published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO Oncology Practice) has shown that C the Signs, an artificial intelligence (AI) platform supporting earlier cancer diagnosis, has delivered an 808% return on investment (ROI) for the NHS.
Commissioned by Health Innovation East, the independent evaluation found that implementation of C the Signs across Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board (ICB) was associated with 272 patients being diagnosed earlier and £1.5 million in annual cost savings - demonstrating how AI can help improve patient outcomes and optimise NHS resources.
By helping GPs identify patients at risk of cancer sooner and reduce unnecessary urgent suspected cancer (USC) referrals, the platform has also eased system pressures and released valuable clinical capacity across the region.
“This study provides clear evidence that AI can make a measurable impact on cancer care,” saidDr Miles Payling, Chief Scientific Officer at C the Signs. He went on to say:
"An 800% return on investment means we’re improving early diagnosis and helping the NHS use its resources more efficiently. It’s a practical example of innovation making care better for both patients and clinicians.”
The study builds on earlier research, also published in JCO Oncology Practice and presented at ASCO, which found that GP practices using C the Signs achieved a 12% increase in cancer detection rates - from 58.7% to 66.0% - without increasing referral activity.
Together, these studies show that C the Signs helps detect more cancers at an earlier stage while maintaining stable referral volumes - supporting NHS priorities around early diagnosis, productivity, and elective recovery.
“Early diagnosis gives patients the best chance of successful treatment,” said Dr Seema Dadhania, Clinical Oncologist at Imperial College London and author of the study. Dr Dadhania further stated:
“C the Signs is helping primary care clinicians identify those subtle cancer presentations that can otherwise be missed - improving detection while reducing unnecessary referrals. It’s a model for sustainable early diagnosis.”
Scaling Across the East of England
Following the success in Suffolk and North East Essex, Health Innovation East has supported the expansion of C the Signs across Norfolk and Waveney ICB, with further rollouts planned across the East of England.
Piers Ricketts, Chief Executive at Health Innovation East said:
“This work is a strong example of technology delivering measurable benefit. C the Signs has shown that AI can help clinicians find cancer earlier.
He continued: "This is of obvious benefits to patients whilst also easing the pressure on NHS services, in particular on primary care. The results from Suffolk and North East Essex are a real success story for innovation in the NHS and show how the service can progress towards its goal of increasing early detection rates from 50% to 75% by 2028.”
Dr Peter Holloway, GP Partner at Mendlesham Practice, Cancer Lead for Suffolk and North East Essex ICB, Chair of the Primary Care Group for the East of England Cancer Alliance, and Cancer Research UK GP for the East of England said:
“The NHS has set an ambitious target to achieve 75 percent early stage cancer diagnoses by 2028. To reach this, we must strengthen primary care’s ability to recognise early symptoms of cancer and ensure timely investigation and referral. C the Signs – a clinical decision support system integrated seamlessly within GP IT systems – helps deliver on these objectives.
Shedding further light on the impact, Dr Holloway said: "Research has shown a 12 percent increase in cancer detection rates in Ipswich and East Suffolk following its implementation. Moreover, it demonstrates a strong return on investment: by ensuring patients are quickly directed to the right pathway, the system effectively pays for itself and reinforces the value of a digital first approach.”
Mayo Clinic Magazine highlights C the Signs’ impact on early cancer diagnosis
We’re proud to share that Mayo Clinic Magazine has published an in-depth feature on C the Signs, spotlighting our journey, scientific breakthroughs, and mission to transform how cancer is diagnosed - globally.
Recognition from one of the world’s most respected medical institutions marks a new chapter in our mission to drive earlier detection, better outcomes, and a future where no patient is diagnosed too late.
A Story That Resonates
The feature, titled “C the Signs: Building digital solutions to find cancer up to five years sooner,” takes readers inside the origins and innovation behind our platform.
It begins with the story of Dr Bea Bakshi, who, after witnessing a patient’s late pancreatic cancer diagnosis during her time as an NHS doctor, was driven to ask a single question:
“What if we could help doctors spot the earliest signs of cancer - before it’s too late?”
From that question came the foundation for C the Signs - and the start of a new approach to early diagnosis.
The Mayo Clinic piece explores:
- How our AI models have been developed to detect patterns across multiple tumour types
- Our “closed-loop learning” system, which continuously refines itself with every patient interaction
- And our collaboration with Mayo Clinic’s Platform_Accelerate programme, enabling retrospective validation against diverse US patient datasets
One of the most powerful findings: in retrospective analysis, C the Signs identified cancers up to five years earlier in 26% of patients across the five highest-mortality cancer types - breast, colorectal, lung, prostate, and pancreatic.
That kind of lead time doesn’t just change statistics.
It changes lives. As our Co-Founder and CEO, Bea shared with Mayo Clinic:
“We’ve detected over 65,000 patients with cancer in the UK. In five years’ time, I want to be talking about the number of patient lives we’ve saved in the United States.”
Defying Time. Rewriting the Possible.
Our collaboration with Mayo Clinic reflects the next phase of our mission - building a future where early detection is standard for all, not a privilege for some.
Every earlier diagnosis is a life changed.
And every life changed redefines what’s possible.
-
Photography by Lincoln Gore / Mayo Clinic
A year of impact: reflections on 2024 from Dr Bea Bakshi, CEO of C the Signs
As 2024 draws to a close, it feels like the right moment to pause and reflect on what has been an extraordinary year for C the Signs - a year defined by our relentless pursuit of purpose and our shared mission to ensure that no patient faces a late cancer diagnosis.
This has been a year of measurable progress, meaningful partnerships, and, most importantly, real impact.
Transforming Lives Through Early Detection
In 2024, we reached remarkable milestones - completing over 400,000 cancer risk assessments and identifying more than 30,000 patients with cancer across 50+ cancer types.
Each number represents more than data. It represents a person whose cancer was found earlier, a family given more time, and a future rewritten.
These achievements bring us one step closer to our vision:
A world where every patient survives cancer.
Driving Research and Global Recognition
This year, our research was recognised on some of the world’s most influential scientific stages.
- At the ASCO General Meeting in Chicago, we shared findings demonstrating improved early cancer detection rates - without increasing healthcare utilisation.
- At the Early Detection of Cancer Conference in San Francisco, our data showed a 50% improvement in diagnostic speed.
- At the European Cancer Summit in Brussels, we presented evidence of significant stage shift in ovarian cancer, detecting cases earlier than ever before.
- And most recently, at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, we revealed breakthrough findings showing C the Signs identified women at risk of breast cancer up to five years earlier than physicians, in 20% of cases, with accuracy comparable to mammography.
Each of these studies reinforces the same truth:
When cancer is found earlier, lives can be transformed.
Our Defining Value: Impact
When I asked our team what single value defines C the Signs, one word came through clearly - impact.
That word guides every decision we make, every partnership we build, and every innovation we create.
It is the heartbeat of who we are - a team united by the belief that technology can restore something medicine too often loses: time.
Gratitude and Collaboration
None of this would be possible without the people who make our mission real.
To our exceptional team - your dedication, brilliance, and compassion inspire me every day.
To the clinicians we partner with across the NHS and beyond - thank you for your trust, courage, and unwavering commitment to your patients, often in the most challenging circumstances.
Together, we are proving that early detection isn’t just possible - it’s happening.
Looking Ahead to 2025
As we look to the year ahead, our mission remains as clear as ever:
to accelerate earlier cancer detection and to ensure every patient, everywhere, has access to the care they need, when they need it.
2025 will bring new challenges - but also new opportunities to scale our impact, deepen our partnerships, and expand the boundaries of what’s possible in early diagnosis.
From all of us at C the Signs, thank you for being part of this journey.
Wishing everyone a joyful holiday season and a bright New Year filled with hope, innovation, and lives transformed.
Defy time. Rewrite the possible.
—
Dr Bea Bakshi
Co-Founder & CEO, C the Signs
Featured
Why every moment matters: A message from Dr Miles Payling
Dr. Miles Payling
At the inaugural C the Signs Conference, Dr Miles Payling - Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer - delivered a message that captured the heart of a movement reshaping how the world detects cancer.
He spoke about science, yes. But more importantly, he spoke about people. About time. About the moments we can give back when cancer is found sooner.
“We can’t afford to wait for symptoms to become obvious. Every moment matters - because every moment lost is a choice, a treatment, a life that could have been saved.”
The question that changed everything
Miles shared the story that shaped the mission behind C the Signs.
As an NHS doctor, he met a patient named Joe - active, fit, and 60 years old. After several GP (primary care) visits with vague symptoms, Joe arrived at hospital jaundiced and unwell. Scans confirmed metastatic pancreatic cancer.
Three weeks later, Joe died.
“Joe never asked, why do I have cancer? What he asked was, why was my cancer picked up so late?”
That question became the foundation of C the Signs - a platform built to help clinicians detect cancer early enough to change the outcome.
Today, that vision makes a measurable difference: a patient with cancer detected every 22 minutes.
Each one represents a life identified sooner - and a future that’s less defined by fear.
Why early detection still falls short
Cancer remains one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Survival still depends heavily on the stage at diagnosis.
- Breast cancer five-year survival falls from 97.9% at stage 1 to 26.2% at stage 4.
- Bowel cancer falls from 91.7% to 10.3%.
- Yet only around 58% of patients are diagnosed at an early stage.
In primary care - where most people first seek help - clinicians face enormous pressures:
brief consultations, complex presentations, thousands of patients, and on average only a handful of cancer diagnoses each year. As Miles said in his conference speech:
“The problem isn’t people. It’s knowledge. We need to give every GP the power of precision - instantly.”
Early detection doesn’t fail because clinicians aren’t trying.It fails because cancer is complex, symptoms are subtle, and the time to make sense of them is short. Our platform exists to bridge that gap - offering clinicians timely clarity when decisions need to be made.
Innovation and redefining what’s possible
C the Signs brings together trusted medical evidence, real-time data and AI-powered insight to support clinicians in moments where clarity matters most.
Within seconds, our platform can highlight when a patient may be at risk and guide their doctor toward the right diagnostic pathway - across more than 100 cancer types. But the impact isn’t defined by speed, it’s defined by the lives reached sooner.
Real-world evaluations across the NHS have shown that clinicians using C the Signs are able to:
- identify patients whose symptoms signal concern - even when the signs are hard to spot
- offer reassurance by safely ruling out risk when symptoms are more likely to be benign
- give clinicians clearer insight into where a tumour may have started
- help reduce emergency cancer presentations by half
- shorten the time it takes for patients to reach a diagnosis
Each of these outcomes represents something deeply human: a patient receiving answers earlier,
a family spared uncertainty, a healthcare system given space to care, not catch up.
This is what innovation should do - not stand in the place of clinical judgement, but enhance it. It should deepen insight and make the subtle more visible, so clinicians can act early with the confidence their patients deserve.
The movement, and honouring Jess’s Rule
Miles closed by sharing the story of Jessica Brady - a 27-year-old whose symptoms were subtle, persistent and easy to misinterpret. Despite several visits to her doctor, her cancer was found too late. Her loss is felt deeply, not only by those who loved her, but by clinicians across the country who want every patient to be seen in time.
To honour her legacy, our team is introducing Jess’s Rule - a safeguard within the platform that gently alerts clinicians when a patient returns multiple times with unresolved symptoms, prompting a thoughtful, timely cancer risk assessment.
It’s a small change with a profound purpose: to make sure no patient is ever unintentionally overlooked, and no pattern is missed simply because symptoms are subtle.
As Miles said:
“We can turn tragedy into transformation - by ensuring that no patient is ever overlooked again.”
Jess’s story is a reminder of why this movement matters. Together, we can help make early cancer detection a standard for everyone - not a privilege for a few - and give each person the time, choice and hope they deserve.
Press
.webp)
C the Signs selected by the White House CancerX Accelerator
C the Signs has been selected as part of the inaugural White House CancerX Accelerator, a major U.S. initiative uniting global leaders in oncology, technology, and innovation to deliver on President Biden’s Cancer Moonshot vision - to reduce cancer mortality by 50% over the next 25 years.
This marks an extraordinary moment for C the Signs - and for the UK’s role in global healthcare innovation - as the only British company chosen among the 16 organisations forming the first CancerX Accelerator cohort.
Transforming Early Diagnosis on a Global Stage
Built within the NHS and founded by UK doctors, C the Signs is redefining how cancer is detected.
The platform uses artificial intelligence to help clinicians identify patients at risk of cancer at the earliest and most treatable stage.
So far, the system has:
- Identified over 25,000 patients with cancer,
- Achieved 98% accuracy in identifying risk, and
- Supported clinicians across 1,500+ GP practices in finding cancer faster and earlier.
Through the CancerX Accelerator, C the Signs joins forces with leading organisations including AstraZeneca, Intel, Dell Technologies, AWS, and UC Davis Health - forming part of a global collaboration dedicated to transforming the future of cancer care.
“A Pivotal Moment to Lead with Heart”
“As a doctor, I am deeply moved and profoundly grateful for our selection to participate in the inaugural CancerX Accelerator,” said Dr Bea Bakshi, CEO and Co-Founder of C the Signs.
“At C the Signs, our mission is rooted in the belief that early detection can change the course of this disease - aiming for a future where surviving cancer is the norm, not the exception. This is more than an opportunity; it’s a pivotal moment to lead with heart and create meaningful change.”
Recognising UK Leadership in Health Innovation
“This recognition is a testament to the UK’s leadership in healthcare innovation and our capacity to create technology solutions with a global impact,” said Aphrodite Spanou, Director of Healthcare UK at the Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England, and the Department for Business and Trade.
“C the Signs’ work in early cancer detection not only exemplifies British ingenuity but also demonstrates how local innovation can achieve international significance.”
Bringing Together AI and Oncology to Rewrite the Possible
The CancerX Accelerator provides a unique opportunity for cross-sector collaboration - connecting C the Signs with cancer experts, research networks, and innovation partners across the United States.
This partnership represents more than recognition; it’s the next step in scaling early cancer detection globally, combining UK clinical excellence with international innovation to help save lives worldwide.
About C the Signs
Founded by NHS doctors Dr Bea Bakshi and Dr Miles Payling, C the Signs is an AI-powered clinical platform that enables healthcare professionals to identify patients at risk of cancer earlier, faster, and more accurately.
Validated through peer-reviewed research and partnerships with NHS England, Health Innovation Networks, and now the White House CancerX Accelerator, C the Signs continues to redefine what’s possible in early cancer detection - giving people back time, choice, and life.
📢 Read more about the White House CancerX Accelerator: https://cancerx.health/accelerator
🌐 Learn more about C the Signs: www.cthesigns.com
C the Signs ranked 3rd in BusinessCloud’s MedTech 50
Recognised as One of the UK’s Leading HealthTech Innovators
We’re honoured to announce that C the Signs has been ranked 3rd in BusinessCloud’s MedTech 50, the annual ranking that celebrates the most innovative medical technology creators, developers, and adopters in the UK.
This recognition highlights the impact of our mission - using AI to detect cancer earlier and save lives - and reflects the growing importance of technology in transforming how healthcare is delivered.
Celebrating Innovation in MedTech
The MedTech 50 list, supported by digital transformation experts Sputnik Digital, recognises UK companies that are revolutionising medicine, patient care, and clinical outcomes through technology.
This year’s finalists were chosen through a combination of public votes and independent judging, drawing almost 800 votes from across the sector.
The judging panel included:
- Avi Mehra, Co-founder and Managing Director, Doctorpreneurs
- Leontina Postelnicu, Head of Health and Social Care, techUK
- Abeyna Bubbers-Jones, CEO, Medic Footprints
- Jonathan Symcox, Editor, BusinessCloud
We’re incredibly proud to have been recognised alongside so many inspiring organisations driving innovation in healthcare.
Recognition That Fuels Our Mission
Awards like this represent more than recognition — they’re a reminder of why we do what we do.
Every vote and every mention helps raise awareness for our mission to create a world where everyone survives cancer.
“We’re truly grateful to everyone who voted for us and to BusinessCloud for this honour. Recognition like this pushes our mission forward - using technology to give people back time, choice, and life.”
- Dr Bea Bakshi, CEO and Co-Founder of C the Signs.
About BusinessCloud’s MedTech 50
BusinessCloud’s Tech 50 series showcases the most promising companies transforming key sectors through digital innovation.
The MedTech 50 specifically spotlights those reshaping healthcare — from AI-driven diagnostics to digital health records and next-generation patient tools.
You can view the full 2022 MedTech 50 ranking on BusinessCloud’s website:
👉 Read the full list on BusinessCloud →
About C the Signs
C the Signs is an AI-powered clinical platform that helps healthcare professionals identify patients at risk of cancer earlier, faster, and more accurately.
Founded by NHS doctors Dr Bea Bakshi and Dr Miles Payling, the platform supports clinicians across the UK and internationally — detecting a patient with cancer every 22 minutes.