A deadly form of cancer could be prevented by swallowing a sponge on piece of string claimed researchers through new study. The cytosponge that collects cells from the stomach is produced by team from Medical Research Council. These cells are checked for a pre-cancerous condition known as Barrett’s oesophagus.
The condition can affect people who have a long history of heartburn. Around one in ten suffering the condition will go on to develop oesophegal cancer. Millions of people worldwide develop some and another form of Barrett’s oesophagus every year and eighty percent of patients diagnosed with it die within five years.
Earlier treatments for the condition have invasive and comparatively risky. The keyhole surgery is also carried out that is perfect method of testing using an endoscope with camera on the end. But the cytosponge method could be used in primary care which is an inexpensive and easily managed test.
When the sponge is ingested, it expands to a three centimeter web in the stomach. The sponge is pulled out after five minutes and the cells it collects can then be investigated in the lab. The device is tested by research team from the MRC’s Cancer Cell Unit in Cambridge, on five hundred patients aged fifty to seventy.
More than ninety percent cases of Barrett’s oesophagus detected by the sponge. Oesophageal cancer carries such a desolate prognosis for patients. It has become more and more evident that a safe, simply invasive and easily administered method of diagnosis for Barrett’s oesophagus is urgently needed, explained lead researcher Dr Rebecca Fitzgerald.
They are thrilled that this trial has shown that patients find this method endurable and it is a practical screening alternative. They will now carry out more studies into the sponge’s effectiveness, added Dr Fitzgerald.vvv