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Doctors create technique for detecting cancer type

A new, locally-developed swab technique will make early detection of nasopharyngeal cancer possible, doctors at the Chang Gung Memorial Hospital said yesterday.

Nasopharyngeal cancer affects the area between the throat and sinuses and is most commonly found in southeastern China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. Until now no method had been developed to detect the cancer in its first and second stages.

"Over 60 percent of people in Taiwan with this cancer are in the third stage of the disease when it is diagnosed," said Hao Sheng-po (侯勝博), one of the doctors who developed the new technique.

The technique involves inserting a cotton swab into a patient's nasal cavity. The specimen is then tested for the presence of the Epstein-Barr virus, which has been found in over 99 percent of patients with nasopharyngeal cancer.

"The endoscope or magnetic resonance imaging used in the past were painful techniques and not as accurate," Hao said.

"At least 100 to 400 cancer cells also needed to be present for the cancer to be detected. But the new swab technique can detect the cancer with the presence of just 19 cancer cells," Hao said.

"The swab technique we have now is 90-percent accurate," said Tsang Ngan-ming (曾雁明), another of the doctors who developed the technique. He said that similar techniques had been trialed in Hong Kong and Canada but with disappointing results.
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