The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) has endorsed the use of digital pathology as an alternative option to light microscopy for the review of cancer screening histopathology slides.
Digital pathology (DP) enables glass histopathology slides to be reviewed digitally, rather than with a microscope. A Health Technology Assessment (HTA) study found that DP performs as well as light microscopy (LM) in cancer screening and that pathologists were comfortable and able to use both modalities.
The committee endorsed the use of DP at its November 2023 meeting following a consultation into the results of the HTA study. A total of 31 stakeholders responded to the consultation and none were aware of any evidence contradicting the HTA study. The UK NSC supported the use of DP in screening as a permissive modification, meaning it can be used where feasible in laboratories as an option to LM.
The study focused on breast and bowel cancer, but expert stakeholders are confident its findings are also likely to be robust for cervix histopathology. The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) did not carry out a cost-effectiveness exercise, so consulted stakeholders on the recommendation, based on the HTA study, to allow the use of DP in cancer screening, excluding cytology, as an alternative to light microscopy.
Comments received from this consultation were presented to the UK NSC a for a recommendation. In light of the consultation responses and expert input from the UK NSC’s Adult Reference Group, the committee was satisfied that digital pathology represented a safe option for commissioners and providers of diagnostic pathways in the breast, bowel and cervical screening programmes.