DNA test could detect cervical cancer early: study
LONDON (Reuters) - A DNA test for the virus that causes cervical cancer helps detect potentially dangerous lesions earlier than the commonly used pap smear technique, Dutch researchers said on Thursday.
The test could mean fewer screenings for women and ensure that they receive earlier treatment for lesions that might lead to cancer, they said in the journal Lancet.
"It is a better test because you pick up more lesions," Chris Meijer, a pathologist at VU University Medical Centre in Amsterdam, said in a telephone interview. "And because you pick them up earlier, you have more time to treat the women."
In a pap smear, doctors scrape cells from the cervix and examine them under a microscope for abnormalities that could indicate precancerous lesions. The DNA test screens for evidence of infection by high-risk types of the human papillomavirus (HPV) that cause cervical cancer.
The Dutch study suggests the DNA test is better at indicating which women are at risk of precancerous lesions and should therefore have a biopsy, Meijer said.
"When you are HPV positive (in the test), the likelihood you have precancerous lesions is quite high," he said. "A (pap smear) is not sensitive enough to detect all the lesions."
Cervical cancer is caused by the HPV virus spread through sexual transmission and is the second most common type of cancer in women.
Merck and Co's. Gardasil and GlaxoSmithKline's Cervarix vaccines protect people against HPV infection. The tumors kill about 300,000 each year, mostly in developing countries. Continued...
The test could mean fewer screenings for women and ensure that they receive earlier treatment for lesions that might lead to cancer, they said in the journal Lancet.
"It is a better test because you pick up more lesions," Chris Meijer, a pathologist at VU University Medical Centre in Amsterdam, said in a telephone interview. "And because you pick them up earlier, you have more time to treat the women."
In a pap smear, doctors scrape cells from the cervix and examine them under a microscope for abnormalities that could indicate precancerous lesions. The DNA test screens for evidence of infection by high-risk types of the human papillomavirus (HPV) that cause cervical cancer.
The Dutch study suggests the DNA test is better at indicating which women are at risk of precancerous lesions and should therefore have a biopsy, Meijer said.
"When you are HPV positive (in the test), the likelihood you have precancerous lesions is quite high," he said. "A (pap smear) is not sensitive enough to detect all the lesions."
Cervical cancer is caused by the HPV virus spread through sexual transmission and is the second most common type of cancer in women.
Merck and Co's. Gardasil and GlaxoSmithKline's Cervarix vaccines protect people against HPV infection. The tumors kill about 300,000 each year, mostly in developing countries. Continued...
Labels: DNA. Cervical Cancer, HOV Positive, Pap Smear
