Cervical cancer is a highly prevalent cancer, with approximately 500,000 new cases diagnosed each year. Shockingly, the number of individuals diagnosed with precursor lesions in the cervix-;also known as cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN)-;is 20 times higher. As with many potentially malignant conditions, early diagnosis of cervical cancer can make all the difference in a patient's life in terms of treatment outcomes.
For this, developing effective, convenient, and easily available screening protocols for CIN and cervical cancer is of paramount importance. Currently, the two most widely used screening procedures for these conditions are human papillomavirus (HPV) test and cytology examination. While cytology is well established as a screening method in many countries, it has rather low sensitivity for detecting CIN.
On the other hand, HPV tests are highly sensitive, but HPV infections do not always lead to cervical lesions, resulting in poor specificity. Given these drawbacks, the need for improved diagnostic methods is all the more necessary. Against this backdrop, a research team led by Professor Takuma Fujii from Fujita Health University, Japan, aimed to identify biomarkers that could assist in the early detection of cervical cancer.
In their latest paper published in Cancer Science on May 15, 2024, they report on a series of compounds that show abnormal expression in serum and cervical mucus samples of cervical cancer patients. These findings could potentially revol.