Capsule can detect early stomach cancer
Researchers in Italy have developed a small capsule that can be used to detect early stomach cancer.
The University of Urbino said the capsule is coated in gelatin to make it slide down the throat on the end of a nylon thread. Once inside the stomach, the gelatin dissolves, letting gastric juices into the capsule through porous plastic walls, ANSA said Friday.
Lead researcher Pietro Musaro said cells from the stomach wall are absorbed by a tiny pad inside the capsule, which is then pulled out of the stomach. The substances can then be tested for the altered DNA found in stomach cancer.
Musaro said the capsule had a 98 percent success rate when tested on 20 patients with stomach tumors and 14 healthy volunteers, ANSA said.
The study is published in the Annals of Oncology.
Copyright 2007 by United Press International