New Method to Screen for Ovarian and Endometrial Cancers

A team of American researchers has come up with a new method of screening for ovarian and endometrial cancers by analyzing the cervical fluid collected during Pap smear tests. Researchers at Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore said that while the test is still a few years away from widespread use, it could prove to be an important finding as there are no tests that can reliably detect ovarian or endometrial cancers at an early stage.

Says Andrea Myers, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute who has authored the commentary of the study, “Pap smears have had a tremendous impact in reducing the rate of cervical cancer in the United States. The lack of an equally effective screening test for women at high risk for endometrial or ovarian cancer has created a great deal of interest in developing tests that could identify these cancers by their genetic ‘signature’ — the collection of specific mutations within them.”

The report has been published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

Source-Medindia