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London, UK
Scientists at the University College London, UK and Austriaâs Innsbruck University have developed a more accurate predictive test that can detect the changes in cells which can lead to cervical cancer. This test also has future implications for detecting other common cancers like breast, womb, and ovarian cancer, as it can pick up DNA markers of these types of cancers.
According to the results published in the journal Genome Medicine, for those without cell changes but had human papilloma virus (HPV), the test detected at least 55% of those would show cell changes within the span of four years. HPV is also one of the leading causes of most cervical cancer cases, said the report by the Guardian.
Furthermore, the scientists behind the test had previously also indicated that by using the cervical cells from a routine smear test they were able to detect ovarian and breast cancer or at least predict the likelihood of developing. However, now researchers have said that this test performs better than current methods for identifying women with advanced cell changes who need treatment.
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Recent research studied DNA methylation â an extra layer of information on top of the DNA â which indicates which bits of the DNA to read, the report indicated. This information, scientists believe, can help detect cancer and possibly also predict the risk of someone developing it in the future. However, factors like being overweight, smoking, pollution and poor diet can also alter these markers and change how the cells behave.
The data for this study included 1,254 cervical screening samples from women, ranging from low to high risk. This also accounted for samples from women with HPV but no cervical cell changes and samples from women who went on to develop high-risk cell changes within four years.
âVaccination against the virus that causes cervical cancer is now widely implemented and is leading to changes in the amount and types of the virus circulating in the community,â said ULC professor from the department of women's cancer, Martin Widschwendter. He added, that this in turn also calls for a change in approach for testing and building new ârisk-predictive screening programmes around existing, effective cervical sample collection offers real potential for cancer prevention in the future.â
ALSO READ: 'Historic': HPV vaccine lowers cervical cancer rates by 90 per cent, says UK study
Chief executive of the Eve Appeal charity, Athena Lamnisos praised this development and said, âThis new method is more specific and doesnât lead to over-treatment, which is good news for cervical cancer prevention and great news for everyone who needs to be screened.â
The UK-based charity raises awareness and funds for gynaecological cancers. Lamnisos added that these effective new methods are welcomed since they want to prevent cancer and early intervention can help particularly for cervical cancer.
(With inputs from agencies)
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