Preferences for multi-cancer tests (MCTs) in primary care: discrete choice experiments of general practitioners and the general public in England.

Background: Multi-Cancer tests (MCTs) hold potential to detect cancer across multiple sites and some predict the origin of the cancer signal. Understanding stakeholder preferences for MCTs could help to develop appealing MCTs, encouraging their adoption.

Methods: Discrete Choice Experiments (DCEs) conducted online in England.

Results: GPs (n = 251) and the general public (n = 1005) preferred MCTs that maximised negative predictive value, positive predictive value, and could test for a larger number of cancer sites. A reduction of the NPV of 4.0% was balanced by a 12.5% increase in the PPV for people and a 32.5% increase in PPV for GPs. People from ethnic minority backgrounds placed less importance on whether MCTs can detect multiple cancers. People with more knowledge and experience of cancer placed substantial importance on the MCT being able to detect cancer at an early stage. Both GPs and members of the public preferred the MCT reported in the SYMPLIFY study to FIT, PSA, and CA125, and preferred the SYMPLIFY MCT to 91% (GPs) and 95% (people) of 2048 simulated MCTs.

Conclusions: These findings provide a basis for designing clinical implementation strategies for MCTs, according to their performance characteristics.