About one in every 20 people in the UK will develop bowel cancer during their lifetime, in fact, it’s one of the most common types of cancer diagnosed around the country.
Now, for the first time ever in the UK, a pioneering device has been used to remove precancerous bowel tumours without the need for invasive surgery.
Dr Philip Boger, a consultant in gastroenterology and advanced endoscopy at Southampton General Hospital, performed the procedure that involved placing a cap over a colonoscope and attaching the “bear claw” clip to the tip.
It was then passed into the bowel to locate the growth which was slowly pulled into the cap before the clip was released to seal the surrounding area. The diseased tissue is then promptly removed using a wire lasso.
Although similar procedures exist at the moment, the options currently available can only remove a thin layer of tissue due to the risk of causing a life-threatening perforation, leading to recurrence in around a quarter of cases and resulting in the need for surgical intervention.
The new technique, which uses equipment known as a full-thickness resection device (FTRD), allows doctors to remove deeper layers of tissue non-surgically for the first time as the “claw” prevents damage to the lining of the bowel.
Boger, who has performed the procedure on three patients so far, said it marked a milestone as many patients would no longer be faced with major abdominal surgery and the risk of requiring a colostomy bag to be fitted to the stomach.
“Until now, we have been limited non-surgically to dealing with surface layer tumours due to the risk of perforation and bleeding and inadequate depth of excision allowed,” he said.
“But this device enables us to secure the surrounding area with a bear-like “claw” clip before removing the diseased tissue, which means we can protect the bowel and remove that risk.”
“This does mark a major milestone as we now envisage being able to remove the full thickness of the bowel this way in many more cases, preventing the need for those patients to undergo surgical intervention with its associated risks and recovery time.”