Cervical cancer is a relatively prevalent type of cancer, with over 500,000 new cases reported each year. The shocking reality is that the number of cases of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), also known as precursor lesions in the cervix, is 20 times higher.
As with many other potentially fatal conditions, early discovery of cervical cancer can have a substantial impact on a patient's prognosis regarding treatment outcomes. Therefore, it is essential to develop easy, practical, and efficient screening methods for CIN and cervical cancer.
What is Cervical Cancer?
Cervical cancer is a type of cancer that affects the cervix, which is the lower part of the uterus that connects to the vagina. This type of cancer is most commonly caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV), a sexually transmitted infection. HPV can lead to changes in the cells of the cervix, which can eventually turn into cancer if left untreated. Cervical cancer often does not show any symptoms in its early stages, which is why regular Pap tests are important for early detection and treatment.
Symptoms of cervical cancer
- Abnormal bleeding
- Pelvic pain
- Pain during sexual intercourse
Common screening for cervical cancer
At present, the most popular methods of screening for these disorders are the cytology examination and the human papillomavirus (HPV) test. Although cytology is widely used as a screening technique in many nations, its sensitivity for identifying CIN is very poor. However, although HPV infections may not necessarily result in cervical lesions, HPV tests have poor specificity despite their high sensitivity. It is even more important to develop better diagnostic techniques in light of these shortcomings.
Know about the recent study
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, 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 revolutionize disease prevention strategies.
Interestingly, the use of cervical mucus samples as part of a potential diagnostic tool was not initially planned. “We wanted to investigate how changes in local immunity are related to cervical cancer, and so, we aimed to study all the currently known microRNAs (miRNAs) associated with the development and progression of cervical tumours,” explains Fujii. Adding further, Fujii says, “Initially, we focused on developing a serum-based diagnostic method for clinical use. However, we realized it would be better to first verify if molecular expression levels in the local tissue correlated with serum, assessing the feasibility of a serum diagnostic method.”
To achieve these goals, the research team compared the miRNA and cytokine profiles from serum and mucus samples. These were collected from patients with cervical cancer or CIN who underwent routine gynaecological examinations at Fujita Health University Hospital, over approximately eight years. Through initial screening, the researchers identified three candidate miRNAs and five candidate cytokines in serum, and five candidate miRNAs and seven candidate cytokines in mucus.
With the help of miRNA real-time PCR tests and cytokine immunoassay experiments on a larger sample size, the team verified the abnormal expression of these biomarkers in patients with cervical cancer at different stages of the disease. They subsequently evaluated the diagnostic potential of these compounds. Surprisingly, while miRNAs and cytokines in serum showed limited diagnostic accuracy, a specific combination of miRNAs and cytokines in mucus samples proved much more promising. This suggests that focusing on changes in local expression levels, rather than serum levels, may offer a superior diagnostic strategy.
“Our study, for the first time, demonstrates that analyzing mucus samples can distinguish cervical tumours from normal tissues more accurately than serum samples. Using such a method as an additional option to traditional screening techniques could help discover cancer and precancerous conditions at an earlier stage,” remarked Fujii.
(With ANI Inputs)
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