Collaboration to detect oesophageal cancer

A collaborative group of scientists are working on separate diagnostic techniques to detect oesophageal cancer, otherwise known as foodpipe cancer.

The teams from the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute and Swansea University believe that earlier detection could help save lives, as the disease is often picked up only when it is well advanced due to a lack of early stage symptoms.

Approximately 7,800 people die from oesophageal cancer every year in the UK. For men it is the fourth most common cause of cancer death.

Led by Dr Sarah Bohndiek, the Cambridge team are testing with a light-emitting dye that sticks to healthy oesophageal cells but not to pre-cancerous cells. Cancerous tissue, not coated in the dye, would be identified as being dark and not emitting light.

The second test, developed at Swansea University, uses a simple blood sample and looks for mutated red blood cells as an indication of oesophageal cancer. The mutated blood cells are a side effect of the cancer and their cell recognition proteins are no longer able to attach to them, making them detectable to standard laboratory equipment in any hospital pathology department.

Dr Bohndiek said: "People who are at a high risk of developing oesophageal cancer, such as those with Barrett's oesophagus, could be closely monitored with this technique. And removing patches of pre-cancerous cells could prevent some cases of oesophageal cancer."