{"id":26246,"date":"2020-07-31T08:10:33","date_gmt":"2020-07-31T08:10:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scienceblog.cancerresearchuk.org\/?p=17778"},"modified":"2024-11-03T15:16:21","modified_gmt":"2024-11-03T15:16:21","slug":"a-sponge-on-a-string-test-to-detect-oesophageal-cancer-earlier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/a-sponge-on-a-string-test-to-detect-oesophageal-cancer-earlier\/","title":{"rendered":"A \u2018sponge on a string\u2019 test to detect oesophageal cancer earlier"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/p>\n

The Cytosponge can be used to detect oesophageal cancer earlier.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Around 9,100 people are diagnosed with oesophageal cancer<\/a> each year in the UK. <\/span><\/p>\n

A big challenge with this type of cancer is that many people don\u2019t realise there\u2019s a problem until they start to have trouble swallowing. Often, these symptoms aren\u2019t recognisable until a later stage in the disease. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

But there may be an opportunity to detect the disease earlier. Some people develop a condition \u2013 called Barrett\u2019s oesophagus<\/a><\/span> \u2013 prior to developing into cancer.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Barrett\u2019s oesophagus is much more common than oesophageal cancer, and although it will only become cancer in a handful of cases, it presents an opportunity for doctors to spot a problem early and intervene before cancer develops. But the typical test for Barrett\u2019s oesophagus, endoscopy, is both invasive and expensive.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Enter the Cytosponge. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Cytosponge-TFF3 test is a \u2018sponge on a string\u2019 device coupled with a laboratory test called TFF3 developed by scientists funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC) and Cancer Research UK \u2013 a simple, quick and affordable test for Barrett\u2019s oesophagus that can be done in a GP surgery. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

And the latest results, published in<\/span> The Lancet<\/a>, suggest this Cytosponge-TFF3 test can identify ten times more people with Barrett\u2019s oesophagus than current GP care.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

We caught up with Professor Rebecca Fitzgerald, based at the University of Cambridge, whose team studies oesophageal cancer and has worked hard over the last decade to develop this innovative test.<\/span><\/p>\n

How does it work?<\/span><\/h2>\n

Cytosponge<\/span> is a small coated pill on a string that contains the sponge. It\u2019s easy for people to swallow, and when the pill reaches the stomach, the coating dissolves and the sponge expands. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

When the sponge is pulled back up, it collects some of the cells lining the oesophagus on its way. The sponge is sent off for analysis in the lab, \u201cwhere we have developed a simple antibody test called TFF3 so that pathologists can easily spot the signs precancerous condition\u201d. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n