Belfast pilot trials nanopore DNA sequencing to speed up brain tumour diagnosis

What is the background?

Diagnosing a brain tumour is unusually difficult. Many tumour types look almost identical under a microscope, so doctors often cannot confirm the exact subtype until tissue is tested in specialist laboratories. That wait, typically several weeks, delays treatment planning for patients who have just had surgery.

Brain tumour diagnosis services for Northern Ireland sit within the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, working alongside researchers at Queen’s University Belfast. Brainwaves NI, Northern Ireland’s only volunteer-led brain tumour research and support charity, has backed that work since 1994. The charity has given more than £500,000 to brain tumour research at Queen’s Patrick G Johnston Centre for Cancer Research, including £178,000 over three years for three PhD studentships.

What happened?

Queen’s University Belfast announced on 27 August 2025 that it had partnered with Brainwaves NI and the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust on a new project called the Nanopore Pilot. The team is testing “rapid nanopore sequencing,” a method capable of reading tumour DNA within hours.

The approach was developed at the University of Nottingham, in partnership with Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) NHS Trust. Queen’s said it could reduce the wait for a confirmed brain tumour diagnosis from the present standard of several weeks to just a few days, giving patients and clinicians answers far more quickly. The pilot’s immediate focus is faster post-surgical diagnosis and follow-up care for people treated by the Belfast Trust.

How did it happen?

Professor David Simpson, Professor of Genomics at Queen’s Wellcome-Wolfson Institute for Experimental Medicine, is leading the work. “Researchers have developed a new molecular approach that can deliver a tumour subtype diagnosis within hours,” he said. “In this project we will show how the technology could be applied in Northern Ireland to accelerate the information flow to patients and care teams.”

Nanopore sequencing reads a DNA strand directly through a tiny pore and can detect methylation, a chemical marker used to classify tumour type, alongside mutations and gene fusions, in a single run. Oxford Nanopore Technologies, whose platforms underpin the method, says this can identify a tumour’s methylation fingerprint within about two hours and complete a fuller genetic profile within 24 hours, compared with conventional molecular testing that can take 28 days or longer. The technology is still a research tool rather than a routine clinical test, which is why Queen’s and the Belfast Trust are running it as a pilot first.

Dr Estelle Healy, Consultant Neuropathologist with the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, is helping trial the technology as a regional service. “This is an exciting opportunity to develop our regional service for patients, based at the Belfast Trust and to trial a technology which could be adopted routinely across the UK for faster brain tumour diagnosis,” she said.

Why does it matter?

Colin McMillan, Chair of Brainwaves NI, said: “I am delighted that Brainwaves NI has agreed to fund the Nanopore Pilot for faster diagnosis in brain cancer. We are committed to supporting research that can make a real difference to people living with brain tumours and their families. This project will make a huge difference to brain cancer diagnostics in Northern Ireland, bringing it in line with other centres across the UK.” McMillan added that quicker diagnoses should help ease the pressure and uncertainty faced by patients and their families.

Queen’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Sir Ian Greer said the project showed how philanthropy supports practical solutions to hard problems, adding that Queen’s was “delighted to be working with Brainwaves NI and the Belfast Trust to support this project.” For patients, a faster answer means less time spent waiting to learn what type of tumour they have. For clinicians, it means treatment planning can start earlier, with more confidence about the diagnosis.

What were the key results?

• Nanopore Pilot announced 27 August 2025, funded by Brainwaves NI with Queen’s University Belfast and the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust
• Rapid nanopore sequencing can read tumour DNA within hours, versus the current standard of several weeks for a confirmed diagnosis
• Sequencing method originally developed at the University of Nottingham with Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust
• Brainwaves NI has given more than £500,000 to brain tumour research at Queen’s since 1994, including £178,000 for three PhD studentships
• Belfast Trust neuropathologist Dr Estelle Healy is trialling the technology as a new regional diagnostic service
• Future potential includes using the same sequencing method during surgery itself, giving surgeons real-time molecular information mid-operation

What happens next?

Queen’s has not published further results from the pilot since the August 2025 announcement, and no fixed rollout date has been confirmed. Dr Healy’s stated goal is to prove the method works inside a routine regional pathology service, not only in a research lab, so that other UK centres could adopt it too.

Professor Simpson said that if the post-surgical pilot succeeds, the same nanopore approach could eventually move into the operating theatre, giving surgeons molecular information on a tumour while they are still operating rather than days or weeks afterward. Brainwaves NI continues to fund brain tumour research and support services across Northern Ireland alongside the pilot, including its existing PhD studentships at the Patrick G Johnston Centre for Cancer Research.