DNA may be used as test for cervical cancer signs

USING a DNA test to look for signs of cervical cancer could detect more cases of disease than current techniques alone, research suggests.

Researchers writing in the Lancet Oncology found that testing cervical samples for the DNA of the two most dangerous strains of the human papillomavirus – HPV 16 and 18 – found more pre-cancerous lesions than usual testing techniques alone.

The team, from the American Society for Clinical Pathology Institute in Washington, suggested that the DNA HPV test could become the main tool used to rule out the disease, with further testing required only for women who tested positive.

The current method of cervical cancer screening involves examining cells taken from the cervix which are checked for any sign of changes that could go on to become cancer.

But the new study looked at whether this could be combined with DNA testing, in which cervical cells are examined to see whether the HPV virus is present.

The study recruited more than 47,000 women aged 25 and over who had routine cervical screening in the United States in 2008-9.

In a comment article, Guglielmo Ronco from the Centre of Cancer Prevention in Turin and colleagues said HPV testing using DNA alone was likely to become the primary screening test in high-income countries, because the current tests added little to the succes rate.