Published: 05 February 2024
The UK Government has approved the use of digital pathology to help speed up analysis of cancer screening samples.
The technique will particularly benefit screening for bowel, breast, lung and cervical cancers.
The approval follows results from new NIHR-funded research. It will result in faster reporting of people’s samples helping to deliver world-class care.
Experts at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW) NHS Trust led the study. The results were published in the journal Histopathology.
Histopathology is the examining of cells and tissues under a microscope. It is a key step in many major disease pathways, especially in cancer where early detection plays a crucial role in survival.
Digital pathology uses automated slide scanners to digitise the histopathology process. Results are reported on computer workstations as opposed to a conventional microscope (light microscopy). It enables pathologists to report samples remote from the laboratory producing slides.
This process makes sharing samples easier and helps reduce risk of loss or damage of samples. It also mitigates the need for pathologists to be present in hospitals, as they can review the slides remotely. Digitising the slides might also allow the use of computer algorithms to help improve pathologists’ performance in future.
In the study, researchers compared the use of digital pathology to using a microscope - the current standard. They found digital pathology was equally effective as using microscopes and slides for screening samples.
Six NHS hospitals took part. Pathologists reported on each anonymous sample within 4 cancer specialties. These were skin, breast, gastrointestinal and renal cancer. They used 2,024 samples across all 4 specialities. A total of 16,192 reports were created during the study.
The Government approval of digital pathology for analysing cancer screening samples follows a consultation by the UK National Screening Committee (NSC).
Lead Researcher, Consultant Pathologist Professor David Snead of UHCW and The University of Warwick, said: “I am delighted that digital pathology is cleared for use in cancer screening programmes. It is a big milestone to achieve and we are extremely proud that the work we have led proved so effective in making this change.
“The team would like to thank the pathologists, research fellows, statisticians and laboratory technicians who conducted the study and the technical support received from 3DHISTECH and Philips in providing equipment to make it happen. It was a huge task to do, but the data we produced was vital to demonstrate this technology is safe in the hands of our pathologists.
“UHCW can rightly claim to have led the world in the transition to using digital pathology in clinical practice. Doing so enables many benefits to be realised, including the option to use artificial intelligence-based tools to support pathologists in their work.”
Professor Andrew Farmer, Director of NIHR's Health Technology Assessment Programme, which funded the study, said: "It's fantastic that this technique is now being rolled-out to help screen and diagnose patients earlier for some of the most deadly types of cancer.”
"This shows the crucial role research plays in providing key evidence to improve clinical practice and guide decision-making for those who plan and provide health and social care services."