COVID-19 accelerated the way health systems utilise technological advances and AI in the delivery of healthcare – through rapid uptake of new innovations and the speed in which they have been implemented.
For diagnostics in particular, exciting innovations in the digital pathology and diagnostic space are helping to find patients at risk of upper gastrointestinal cancer and reduce the number of patients waiting for endoscopy – currently standing at 70,000 in England alone.
These technologies are enabling the health system to prioritise urgent cases and are saving lives by ensuring earlier, quicker diagnosis of oesophageal cancer.
Transforming disease detection
Leveraging digital pathology and AI helps increase accuracy and efficiency and supports pathologists to deliver greater impact. An example of such an innovation is the Cytosponge.
This test is changing the way oesophageal cancer is diagnosed through a ‘sponge-on-a-string’ device, coupled with next generation biomarkers, to collect cells from the oesophagus, which are then sent to the Cyted laboratory for processing and analysis through its digital platform.
Pathologists are then guided to the location that needs their attention in seconds and identify the patients who are most at risk of Barrett’s oesophagus, a precursor to oesophageal cancer.
Digital tools like these can help provide greater accuracy, empowering pathologists to make decisions quicker, improve patient outcomes and save lives faster.
Patients with acid reflux who are offered the Cytosponge test are 10-times more likely to have their Barrett’s oesophagus detected than patients who had received endoscopy – currently the standard testing method.
By adopting these cutting-edge tools, it can help improve precision, as well as drive more effective collaboration between healthcare providers and healthcare professionals, thus transforming early cancer detection.
The importance of early diagnosis
Survival of oesophageal cancer remains amongst the lowest of all cancers, despite 59 per cent of cases being preventable.
The UK government’s forthcoming 10-year Cancer Plan will recognise early detection and diagnosis as essential to improving survival rates, as well as the importance of delivering interventions to proactively screen for signs of disease.
Diagnostics also takes centre stage in the UK Life Sciences Vision, from which a core goal is to prevent, diagnose, monitor, and treat disease early through innovative diagnostics and digital tools.
In order to improve patient outcomes, it is vital to streamline diagnostic processes and adopt innovative new approaches.
The Cytosponge is paving the way in supporting these priorities, through scaling innovation across the NHS.
It is transforming outcomes through early diagnosis, using technological advances to detect Barrett’s oesophagus; a condition that often goes undiagnosed where cells lining the oesophagus grow abnormally and is a well-defined precursor of oesophageal cancer.
Around 3 to 13 per cent of people with Barrett’s oesophagus develop a type of oesophageal cancer called oesophageal adenocarcinoma in their lifetime – 11 times more than the average person.
Its main symptoms include heartburn and indigestion, which are common of several conditions, meaning that patients often do not realise that they may have the disease.
The digital pathology revolution
As healthcare systems around the world continue to navigate the challenges posed by the pandemic, digital tools will continue to play a significant role in evolving the way care is delivered.
Digital pathology has enormous potential to expand applications far beyond oesophageal cancer, helping to increase capacity for pathologists and improve outcomes for patients.
It is our ambition to continue to grow and increase access to life-saving technology.
We want to build a world in which health systems everywhere can reap the full benefits that our technology has to offer, so that people are diagnosed quicker, regardless of where they live, and healthcare inequalities can be overcome.
Advances in digital pathology and AI have started a new revolution in the diagnosis of oesophageal cancer and beyond.
These advancements will be critical in tackling the backlog, and ensure patients receive their diagnosis earlier, so they can start potentially life-saving treatment.
