A groundbreaking surgical knife that "sniffs out" tumours can diagnose womb cancer in seconds, researchers have discovered. The finding could help end delays in giving the all-clear to healthy women.
Around 9,700 women are diagnosed with womb cancer in the UK each year, Cancer Research UK says. This makes it the fourth most common cancer in women in the UK.
However, only about 10% of those with suspected symptoms who undergo a biopsy are found to have it, reports The Guardian which says experts at Imperial College London have learned that the iKnife or 'intelligent knife' - already used to treat breast and brain cancers - can diagnosis endometrial cancer with nearly 90% accuracy.
Writing in the journal Cancers, the research team said: "The iKnife reliably diagnosed endometrial cancer in seconds, with a diagnostic accuracy of 89%, minimising the current delays for women whilst awaiting a histopathological diagnosis. The findings presented in this study can pave the way for new diagnostic pathways."
Imperial College London says the iKnife is based on electrosurgery, a technology invented in the 1920s that is commonly used today. Electrosurgical knives use an electrical current to rapidly heat tissue, cutting through it while minimising blood loss. In doing so, they vaporise the tissue, creating smoke that is normally sucked away by extraction systems.
The iKnife's inventor, Dr Zoltan Takats of Imperial College London, connected an electrosurgical knife to a mass spectrometer, an analytical instrument used to identify chemicals in a sample. The device can tell the difference between cancerous and healthy tissue by analysing the smoke produced when tissue is vaporised.
The new study involved 150 tissue samples. "Further larger studies are needed to validate this technique and improve its diagnostic performance," the researchers conclude.
Athena Lamnisos, chief executive of the Eve Appeal cancer charity which funded the research, told The Guardian: “Waiting for test results is stressful – especially if that test is to find out whether or not you have cancer. When you hear that the ‘c’ word is even a possibility, the days can’t pass quickly enough until a clinician gives you the all clear.
“Womb cancer has one ‘red flag’ symptom of postmenopausal bleeding that should always get checked out on a two-week referral from your GP. To wait a further two weeks for the results can be really hard for patients.
“There are many reasons for abnormal vaginal bleeding after the menopause – womb cancer is just one of them – the ability to provide a diagnostic test that rules cancer in or out immediately, and with accuracy, could make such a positive difference.
“This Eve-supported research has the potential to create a step change in faster diagnosis, and for the 90% of women with postmenopausal bleeding that isn’t cancer, a really effective way to put their minds at ease. We know how important this is for patients.”
Prof Sadaf Ghaem-Maghami, who led the research at Imperial College London, said: “The iKnife has the potential to completely revolutionise the way we manage people seen in the rapid-access clinics with significant abnormal vaginal bleeding who have been referred for potential diagnosis of endometrial cancer.
“With its high diagnostic accuracy of 89% and positive predictive value of 94%, one could immediately reassure the person of the very low likelihood of having cancer if the iKnife result is negative and expedite further tests and scans and treatment for people whose biopsies indicate presence of cancer. This could happen whilst awaiting confirmation from standard pathology, which can take up to two weeks.”
