Manufacturing equipment for early diagnosis of throat cancer

According to the morning of the China Post Office (Hong Kong, China - English version), researchers have devised a simple test method to detect throat cancer, before the treatment. become too late.

Researchers from Hong Kong and Canada have developed a simple test that allows early detection of throat cancer (commonly known as Cantonese cancer because it is common in Guangdong province). , Southern China) which is often discovered in later stages.

Doctors at the University of Hong Kong, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and the University of Toronto took 10 years to develop this test method.

They designed a brush and a specially prepared solution to keep the DNA collected in a clean state. The specimens are taken by inserting a special brush through the mouth and contacting the throat, the throat area behind the nose, which often develops cancer, a dangerous disease that has a strong genetic character.

Associate Professor, Dr. Raymond Ng Hin-wai is using a new test method.(Source: SCMP)

This special brush collects cells to check for the presence of Epstein-Barr virus . Epstein-Barr virus is a virus commonly found in the group of viruses that cause ecpet (herpes), which is often concentrated in high density in most cancer patients.

Experts conducted a 10-year trial of 578 Chinese patients in Hong Kong and Toronto, who used both traditional diagnostic methods and special test brushes.

The team found that the new test method gave 99% accuracy in determining patients with oropharyngeal cancer or eliminating the possibility of throat cancer.

With this method, only one specimen containing about 5,000 cancer cells is enough for the test device to detect the disease. Meanwhile, the endoscopic method only detects the disease when the specimen has a minimum of 100 million cancer cells.

Surgery professor Patrick Gullane of the University of Toronto said: 'When you brush this device into your throat, you don't have to pull it back. DNA will be stable for up to 30 days in a specially prepared solution without the need for cold storage. "

Talking about this new method, the research leader, associate professor, Dr. Raymond Ng Hin-wai is from the Department of Otolaryngology at the University of Toronto (Canada), and the research leader said: 'This is a measure. Very accurate solution to detect throat cancer. It is very simple and can be done even in remote areas by a few experts ".

According to associate professor, Dr. Raymond Ng Hin-wai, traditional methods sometimes require anesthesia, need skilled professionals and can cause minor injuries. However, the method of testing using this special brush is so simple that only family doctors and nurses at prestigious medical centers can do it.

In the next step, experts will choose about 100 high-risk people from Hong Kong, Singapore and Canada to test this early diagnosis method.

Currently new testing methods have been used in some private hospitals and clinics in Hong Kong in the past six months. However, it is still not allowed to be used in public hospitals. This method is also being used in Canada and the US.