Isle Of Wight Residents Join Ground-Breaking Trial To Detect Oesophageal Cancer Earlier

People on the Isle of Wight are taking part in a ground-breaking clinical trial which could pave the way for a new national screening programme for oesophageal cancer.

Patients have been visiting the BEST4 Screening van at Asda in Newport to find out whether a simple “pill-on-a-thread” test could help detect Barrett’s oesophagus – a condition linked to oesophageal cancer – in people who regularly suffer from heartburn.

The test uses a capsule sponge that starts as a small pill attached to a thread.

After it is swallowed, the coating dissolves in the stomach and a small sponge expands to around the size of a cherry tomato.

A nurse or GP then gently pulls the sponge back up by the thread, allowing it to collect cells from the oesophagus.

Those cells are then analysed for proteins that can indicate Barrett’s oesophagus or oesophageal cancer.

One Islander taking part is David Whistance, an accountant from Freshwater whose father, Bertrand, died from oesophageal cancer.

David said he has suffered with heartburn and acid reflux for much of his life and has taken medication to manage it since his twenties.

He explained that his father was diagnosed with a six-inch tumour in his oesophagus that had been silently growing for some time and sadly died a year later.

Having previously undergone unpleasant diagnostic tests for other cancers, David said the capsule sponge test seemed like a far simpler and less invasive way to help detect the disease early.

The test itself takes around 10 minutes and can be carried out by a nurse, making it significantly quicker and cheaper than traditional endoscopy procedures carried out in hospital.

Researchers hope the trial will show whether the capsule sponge can help detect oesophageal cancer earlier, reduce the need for intensive treatments and ultimately prevent deaths from the disease.

The study is backed by £6.4million in funding from Cancer Research UK and the National Institute for Health and Care Research.

Following an initial rollout in Cambridgeshire in late 2024, mobile screening vans have now arrived on the Isle of Wight.

People aged 55 and over on the Island have been sent text messages from NHS Research inviting them to join Heartburn Health – a platform supporting clinical trials into cancers linked to long-term heartburn.

Some of those who sign up are then randomly selected to take part in the BEST4 Screening trial.

Over the next three years, researchers aim to recruit around 120,000 people who regularly take medication for heartburn.

Persistent heartburn is the most common symptom of Barrett’s oesophagus, a condition where cells in the food pipe begin to grow abnormally and can eventually develop into cancer.

The trial is being led by Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Cambridge, with trial design and analysis carried out by the Cancer Research UK Cancer Prevention Trials Unit at Queen Mary University of London.

According to Cancer Research UK, around 9,300 people in the UK are diagnosed with oesophageal cancer each year.

It is the seventh most common cause of cancer death, with around 22 people dying from the disease every day.

Dr Laima Alam, a specialist gastroenterologist at Isle of Wight NHS Trust and the principal investigator for the trial on the Island, said oesophageal cancer is becoming increasingly recognised across the UK.

She said that although treatments have improved in recent years, only around one in five people survive the disease for five years or more.

Dr Alam explained that identifying those most at risk earlier – particularly people over 55 who experience chronic heartburn – is key to improving survival rates.

She added that current diagnostic methods rely on hospital endoscopy tests, which can be slow and uncomfortable for patients, whereas the capsule sponge can be delivered quickly within the community.

The capsule sponge test was developed following decades of research by Professor Rebecca Fitzgerald and a team of scientists and clinicians at the Early Cancer Institute at the University of Cambridge and the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Centre.

Previous trials have already shown the test can detect ten times more cases of Barrett’s oesophagus in people with chronic heartburn compared with routine GP care.

More than 24,000 capsule sponge tests have also been carried out across parts of the UK to help reduce diagnostic backlogs for patients waiting for endoscopy appointments.

Researchers hope the BEST4 Screening trial will provide the evidence needed for the capsule sponge to become a national screening programme in the future.

The study is open to men aged 55 to 79 and women aged 65 to 79 who regularly experience heartburn, acid reflux or indigestion, or who take medication for these symptoms.

People who receive a text message from NHS Research can follow the link provided to sign up, or register through the Heartburn Health website.