DNA test is an effective tool for cervical cancer screening for women in low-income countries

Cervical cancer is a major problem in low- and middle-income countries because of the lack of adequate screening, such as routine smear testing. The incidence of cervical cancer badociated with human papillomavirus (HPV) is high in these countries. Due to lack of resources for cancer screening, these countries account for 85% of all cases of cervical cancer.

A group of researchers from the Norris Cotton Cancer Center in Dartmouth, led by Gregory Tsongalis, Ph.D., has introduced an inexpensive DNA-based test protocol for HPV in Honduras. The team found that out of 1,732 women screened, 28% were positive for a high-risk type of HPV and of these, 26% had more than one HPV infection. The results also showed that HPV genotypes most commonly detected during testing were different from those commonly found in the United States. Their findings, "Screening for Human Papillomavirus in a Low- and Middle-Income Country", were recently published in ASCO Journal of Global Oncology.

"We have shown that uterine cervical cancer screening can be implemented in resource-limited settings using this method, and that women are very interested and involved in screening and visits to the community. follow-up clinic when needed, "says Tsongalis. "This study also helped identify one thing we did not expect, namely, a very significant difference between the high-risk types of HPV we detect."

Such results could have profound implications for immunization programs. "The causes of cervical cancer, although viral in nature, are not always the same type of virus and could have an impact on the aggressiveness of the disease, vaccinations and therapies" Tsongalis said.

The team would like to use its findings to guide studies of cervical cancer tissue and to formulate therapeutic vaccine trials. "Being able to track down people who have never been tested before and to study the impact of these tests on their health care as well as our understanding of the biology of the disease is most exciting," Tsongalis said.