In the UK, a “game-changer” method to sample cells for the detection of oesophageal cancer is being trialled in a mobile unit.
The cytosponge, a pill containing a sampling sponge, was developed at the and collects cells which are tested at a laboratory. Details on its development were published in The Lancet. In a previous trial with more than 13 000 participants receiving either the cytosponge or usual care from a GP, the odds of detecting oesophageal cancer were ten times higher than with usual care.
It is hoped the test will be much more efficient and quicker than the current detection method, requiring an endoscopy in hospital.
Prof Rebecca Fitzgerald from the University of Cambridge, which developed the test, said it was “really simple and straightforward”.
Early signs of cancer of the oesophagus are often mistaken for heartburn. It is the sixth most common cause of death from cancer worldwide.
A mobile unit will perform the test at GP surgeries at different locations around the UK.
Prof Fitzgerald, who specialises in cancer prevention, said the cytosponge “can diagnose cancer of the oesophagus really early”.
“Usually you would have to go to the hospital and get an endoscopy, with all that entails, and our idea was could you make something that was so simple you could go to a mobile unit or GP surgery,” Prof Fitzgerald said.
“The simplicity is the absolute key of this – we know the power of diagnosis is in the cells you collect.”
She added that due to COVID, “some endoscopy has been completely on hold so you might have to wait months” for the procedure, where a long, thin tube with a camera is sent down the patient’s mouth and throat.
Prof Fitzgerald explained: “You swallow the capsule on a string with water and it will go down to the top of the stomach.
“The capsule will dissolve in five to seven minutes, and as it dissolves out pops a sponge which has been compressed in that capsule. The nurse simply pulls the sponge out with the string and it will collect about a million cells on its way out.
“We put that sponge into a preservative, send it to the laboratory where it is tested to see whether there are Barrett cells or not and whether the cells look like they are turning to pre-cancer. Then we can let the patient know and if there is anything to worry about they can have an endoscopy and treatment.”
The procedure takes about 10 minutes to perform in total.
Source: BBC News
