New urine test ‘could aid prediction of dangerous cervical cancer cases’

Scientists have developed a new urine test that could be used to help catch potentially aggressive forms of cervical cancer early.

Created by a Johns Hopkins Medicine team, the test can detect the likely emergence of cervical cancer in a way that is highly accurate compared to other tests based on genetic markers derived directly from cervical tissue.

It analyses not only multiple sources of human cellular DNA that are altered by precancerous changes, but also DNA from sexually-transmitted human papillomavirus, which causes virtually all cases of the disease.

The study showed the new test offered an accuracy rate of 90.9 percent in identifying CIN2 lesions, which usually develop into cervical cancer cases that are likely to spread.

If further studies confirm the effectiveness of this testing method, urine screening could become a quick and inexpensive way to determine if patients need to undergo biopsies, or if a watch-and-wait approach would be appropriate.

Senior investigator Dr Rafael Guerrero-Preston, assistant professor of otolaryngology and head and neck surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, said: "In developing countries that don't have the money, medical infrastructure or cultural approval for Pap tests, our test could be used instead."

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