Researchers in Bolton are carrying out vital work to help national teams identify new treatments that could transform women’s healthcare in the future.

Figures from Bolton NHS Foundation Trust show more than 1,300 women have volunteered to take part in a number of studies with a focus on improving health and wellbeing.

The iGBS3 study is looking at women’s natural immunity against a bacterial bug called Group B Streptococcus (GBS), which in rare cases can cause serious disease, such as sepsis and meningitis, or even death in babies.

Using blood samples, researchers are aiming to discover what levels of antibody a woman needs to protect her baby from getting GBS to help develop a vaccine.

Priti Wuppalapati, Specialty Doctor at Principal Investigator for the study at Bolton NHS Foundation Trust, said:

GBS can be a devastating disease for both babies and pregnant women, so it’s really important we carry out this research to prevent severe illness and sadly in some cases, deaths.

Royal Bolton Hospital is also running an early cancer detection study for post-menopausal bleeding patients (PMB), investigating if the presence of a protein called MCM5 could be used to detect lining of the womb cancer.

Patients experiencing PMB are asked to provide a urine sample so that a test can be developed in the future to determine if PMB patients can avoid more invasive diagnostic procedures.

Kat Rhead, Lead Practitioner for the study at Bolton NHS Foundation Trust, said:

More than 250 women have agreed to take part in the study at Bolton, which is the second highest number of participants nationally in a Trust and will make big difference to our understanding of diagnosing lining of the womb cancer.

“Post-menopausal bleeding isn’t usually serious, but it can be a sign of cancer.

“Diagnosing lining of the womb cancer in particular can be difficult, so we hope this urine test will one day help to diagnose womb cancer at a much earlier stage to improve life chances.

‘Commitment and dedication’

Bolton NHS Foundation Trust has recently been recognised by the NIHR Clinical Research Network Greater Manchester for its contribution to research over the past twelve months.

The Network said: “The commitment and dedication of your organisation and research teams have enabled the recruitment of 2,037 local people across a range of research studies spanning many specialties.”

To get involved in research or for more information about the studies taking place at Bolton NHS Foundation Trust, visit the NIHR website.