Northerner
Admin (Retired)
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Cancer of the gullet could be diagnosed with a cheap and simple sponge-on-a-string test, latest trial results show.
Swallowed and then retrieved from the mouth by pulling on the string, the Cytosponge capsule expands in the body to collect cells on its way out.
In tests on more than 1,000 UK patients, it was found to be well tolerated, safe and accurate at diagnosing Barrett's oesophagus.
One in 10 people with this condition later develops cancer of the food pipe.
In Barrett's, acid comes back up the food pipe from the stomach, which can cause symptoms such as indigestion and heartburn as well as changes in the normal cells that line the gullet.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-29877701
Swallowed and then retrieved from the mouth by pulling on the string, the Cytosponge capsule expands in the body to collect cells on its way out.
In tests on more than 1,000 UK patients, it was found to be well tolerated, safe and accurate at diagnosing Barrett's oesophagus.
One in 10 people with this condition later develops cancer of the food pipe.
In Barrett's, acid comes back up the food pipe from the stomach, which can cause symptoms such as indigestion and heartburn as well as changes in the normal cells that line the gullet.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-29877701