The number of people being diagnosed with oesophageal cancer is increasing rapidly. New research published in the Nature Medicine journal has found that the changes in sugar molecules lining the oesophagus in the pre-cancerous condition of Barrett’s dysplasia may make the removal of pre-malignant cells easier, thereby stopping them from developing into cancer.
Barrett’s dysplasia, if correctly diagnosed, can prevent oesophageal cancer from developing if the correct cells are found and removed. Until now, however, there has been no method for easily identifying these cells. The new mechanism involves spraying a fluorescent probe onto the oesophageal lining which will stick to sugars and make abnormal areas light up during an endoscopy.
The authors say that the increased numbers of oesophageal cancer in the UK make it “increasingly important to find ways of detecting it as early as possible.” The cancer is currently the fifth biggest cause of cancer-related mortality in the UK with approximately 7000 new cases diagnosed each year.