A dozen experts in the endoscopic characterisation of colorectal lesions from different parts of Spain and the United Kingdom met a few days ago at the Fundació Althaia at a workshop organised by the GOES research group. The meeting, led by Dr. Ignasi Puig, established an open discussion on the endoscopic evaluation of colorectal polyps and selection of the most appropriate treatments based on their optical diagnosis.
For two days, the experts shared experiences and delved into the contents of the Training in Optical Diagnosis of Early Colorectal Cancer (TOD early CRC), a pioneer course that is currently linked to a clinical trial, which has the financial support of the Fundació La Marató de TV3, and which will soon be available to all endoscopy specialists in the world who want to train in this field.
The meeting brought together the following expert endoscopists, members the international panel of tutors of the course: Adolfo Parra (Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust), Marco Bustamante (Hospital Universitari i Politècnic La Fe), Alberto Herrejos de Tejada (Hospital Universitario Puerta de Hierro), Akiko Ono (Hospital Clínico Universitario Virgen de la Arrixaca), Enrique Rodríguez (Hospital Universitario Ramón y Cajal), Maria Pellisé (Hospital Clínic i Provincial de Barcelona), Hugo Uchima (Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol), Marina Solano (Hospital Comarcal de Alcañiz) and João da Costa (Consorci Sanitari de Terrassa). In addition to Dr. Puig, Dr. Marco Antonio Álvarez, head of the Digestology Service, and Dr. Sònia Fernández, assistant to the service, attended on behalf of Althaia.
The TOD early CRC is a unique training course that aims to teach endoscopy professionals to identify the invasive pathology of colorectal polyps using the magnification technique, which provides images that allow accurate prediction of potentially malignant colon polyps.
Scientific evidence has shown that optical diagnosis with zoom or magnification allows the prediction of histology and, therefore, helps to decide on the most appropriate treatment during the performance of the colonoscopy. Thus, the training acquired in this course can save surgery for patients with benign polyps or early-stage cancers, as these lesions can be removed by endoscopy. In addition, learning how to accurately identify a malignant polyp at a more advanced stage can help to avoid unnecessary tests and complications so that conventional surgery can be prioritised in these cases.
