Hong Kong doctors appealed Friday to relatives of stomach-cancer patients to submit to screening using a new technology that can detect the illness in its early stages, DPA reported. Researchers at Hong Kong's Chinese University say that relatives of stomach-cancer patients are at a high risk of developing the disease, the fourth most-common cause of cancer deaths in the city of 6.8 million. New technology being used by the university's Institute of Digestive Disease enabled early detection of tumours, according to institute director Joseph Sung. The new method involved a endoscopic-imaging technique called narrow-band imaging which featured a source of light equipped with narrow-band filters to search for early lesions in the stomach. Sung said that siblings and children of stomach-cancer patients were at a higher risk of developing tumours because of their similar genetics and possible exposure to the same bacteria believed to contribute to the cancer. Stomach cancer is believed to be triggered by ulcer-causing Helicobacter pylori, which can be spread to other people in saliva. The new technology allows doctors to trace early changes in the stomach before it develops into cancer. The technology used at Chinese University is the first of its kind in Asia outside of Japan, and is being used in Hong Kong as part of a worldwide push to promote the screening method.
