Cellvizio Improves ERCP Bile Duct Cancer Detection

Doctors may now be able to better diagnose cancer of the bile ducts, one of the most difficult cancers to detect and treat, according to a new study presented today at the Digestive Disease Week (DDW) 2008 conference.

The 14-patient clinical trial (Abstract S1161) evaluated the ability of Mauna Kea Technology's Cellvizio confocal microscopy system to detect cancer in biliary tract tissue by examining tissue at the cellular level during Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), a procedure used to diagnose cancer of the bile ducts and pancreas.

Dr. Alexander Meining and colleagues of the Technical University of Munich conducted the study and found that Cellvizio predicted cancer with an accuracy rate of 91.7%, which was superior to the 76.9% accuracy rate of histopathological analysis of biopsied tissue taken from strictures. Usually, the preoperative diagnosis of cancer of the bile ducts, medically known as cholangiocarcinoma, is associated with a low accuracy rate.

"Cellvizio represents a promising diagnostic imaging approach for the detection of cancer even in small ducts such as the biliary system," Dr. Meining said. "This new tool could be of utmost importance as cholangiocarcinoma remains one of the cancers with the poorest prognosis. We believe the potential for improved accuracy of diagnosis is due to the real- time, cellular-level images the technology provides on benign and malignant biliaro-pancreatic strictures."

At the conference, Mauna Kea debuted a specially designed miniprobe enabling its Cellvizio GI System to be used with ERCP. Sacha Loiseau, Ph.D., president and CEO of Mauna Kea Technologies, said: "We now offer mini probes that can enable in vivo microscopy in virtually all segments of the gastrointestinal tract. We have received significant interest from the medical community in our ERCP probe and look forward to working closely with leading experts in the field to expand the body of data validating its utility in improving detection of pancreatic and bile duct cancer."

Cellvizio is the first and only confocal microscopy system that is compatible with most endoscopes. It can also be used with various advanced endoscopic modalities, such as narrow band imaging and autoflorescence imaging, and has 510(k) clearance from the Food & Drug Administration and the European CE-Mark for use in the gastrointestinal and pulmonary tracts. Over 1,000 Cellvizio procedures have been completed to date.