European scientists are developing a "revolutionary" test that can detect or predict a woman's risk of developing four cancers (ovarian, breast, uterine and cervical). Based on a single sample of cells taken from the cervix for routine screening, it paves the way for early diagnosis of other gynaecological cancers, not just the cervix itself.
The researchers, led by Dr Martin Witschwender of the Austrian University of Innsbruck, who published the paper in the journal Nature Communications, according to the BBC, the Guardian and New Scientist, believe that the so-called WID test will eventually allow for earlier diagnosis of the most common gynaecological cancers at a younger age. This will increase the chances of putting the brakes on cancer before it really starts, which would be a really important advance for women's health.
Ovarian cancer is responsible for the highest rate of deaths from gynaecological cancers, with three out of four cases being diagnosed at a late stage in 75% of cases, once the tumours have spread. Breast cancer is the most common in women, but detecting it early is easier thanks to mammograms and biopsies. To date, there is no test that can reliably detect breast cancer in women under 50.
The researchers used cell samples from 242 women with ovarian cancer and 869 without, eventually using artificial intelligence to identify a unique DNA signature that can be exploited to detect the cancer or predict that it will occur in the future. The test "caught" 71.54% of women up to 50 years old and 54.5% of women over 50 who had ovarian cancer. A similar study followed on cell samples from 329 women with breast cancer and 869 without, with similar positive results.
The aim for the future is for the test to give a woman a separate score for each of the four gynaecological cancers, which will vary over the course of her life. Those with a higher "score" will have more frequent mammograms, surgeries or other treatments. However, further research and large-scale clinical trials are needed to confirm the predictive efficacy of the WID test.
Source: Proto Thema
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