Endometrial cancer, which affects over 9,000 women annually in the UK, is the fourth most frequent type of cancer in women. Nevertheless, only 10% of people with suspected symptoms who have a biopsy actually have the disease.The iKnife, a technology that is already used to treat breast and brain malignancies, can now be used to accurately detect the existence of endometrial cancer, according to researchers at Imperial College London.
The research team stated in the journal Cancers that the iKnife successfully identified endometrial cancer in seconds with an accuracy rate of 89%, minimising the present delays for women as they wait for a histological diagnosis. New diagnostic routes may be made possible by the study’s findings.The iKnife analyses the smoke that is released whenever the sample tissue is vaporised after being extracted from the womb in order to distinguish between malignant and healthy tissue using electrical currents.
The knife was used to scan both healthy and cancerous endometrial tissues on samples of tissue from 150 patients.If the iKnife result is negative, one might instantaneously confirm a patient that they’re at a very low chance of having cancer and expedite further tests, scans, and treatments for those whose biopsies reveal the presence of cancer because of its exceptional predictive value of 89% and high positive predictive value of 94%.
The study’s principal investigator, Professor Sadaf Ghaem-Maghami, asserts that this might take place even waiting for confirmation from regular pathologist, which might take two to three weeks.The chief executive of the cancer charity Eve Appeal, which provided funding for the study, Athena Lamnisos, said: “Waiting for test results is stressful, especially if that test is to determine whether or not you have cancer.
The days until a doctor gives you the all-clear can’t go by fast enough when you learn that the “c” word is even a possibility.The iKnife would have made a significant difference to Alison’s experience, a 57-year-old from west London who initially had symptoms of womb cancer but ultimately received the all-clear.”It was made clear to me that the news was awful and that I did, in fact, have womb cancer when I was asked to personally undergo the data with them. It was terrifying said by one of the patient.
A newly developed surgical knife that can identify tumours can promptly diagnose endometrial cancer in ladies with healthy uteruses, enabling them to receive the “all-clear” sooner. This was said by the patient’s guardian in an interview.
The research’s principal investigator, Prof. Sadaf Ghaem-Maghami, of Imperial College London, stated that receiving a diagnosis in a matter of seconds might allow women with cancer to begin treatment sooner while avoiding weeks of anxiety for those who were found to be healthy.
The iKnife has the potential to totally revolutionise how we treat patients who are sent to rapid-access clinics for possible endometrial cancer detection and who have severe abnormal vaginal bleeding.
