Genetic testing can identify patients at risk of developing oesophageal cancer, researchers have announced.
The test can be used for people with Barrett’s oesophagus to identify those at high risk of going on to develop cancer.
The genetic test has been developed by researchers at Queen Mary, University of London, UK, the Academic Medical Centre, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and Arizona State University, USA.
It has been developed by analysing cells from 300 patients over three years.
The researchers found that the greater the genetic diversity of cells from the same patient, the greater the risk of cancer developing.
The study also showed few changes in genetic diversity once Barrett’s was diagnosed.
The findings have been reported in Nature Communications.
Researcher Dr Trevor Graham, from Queen Mary, said: “We have shown that some Barrett’s oesophagus lesions are born to be bad – and conversely that some are born to be benign. Once these results are validated in other patients and over longer periods of time, we will be able to say with confidence which people with the benign form can be spared unnecessary endoscopy and worry.
"This will dramatically improve the quality of life for people with Barrett’s, and provide substantial cost saving to healthcare providers.”
Fellow researcher Professor Sheila Krishnadath said: “We have been working for over ten years on collecting and typing single cells of this large group of Barrett’s patients.
"The analysis by our unique collaboration indicates that the cancer risk in these relatively benign early lesions is determined by the number of abnormal clones that has been established in the Barrett’s mucosa, rather than by specific gene abnormalities.”
Dynamic clonal equilibrium and predetermined cancer risk in Barrett’s oesophagus. Nature Communications 19 August 2016; doi: 10.1038/ncomms12158
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