Women and their health care providers are already well aware of the importance of the Pap smear in diagnosing cervical cancer, but a new study indicates that in the future this test may become even more useful.
The report comes from Johns Hopkins University’s Ludwig Center for Cancer Genetics and Therapeutics, and while it will be some time before the results can be applied in practical application, the findings are quite encouraging.
Researchers performed Pap tests on patients with specific types of cancers, and were able to detect genetic material from both uterine and ovarian cancer. The test found ovarian cancer in 41% of participants, but for uterine cancer the rate was 100%. While further studies will be necessary to confirm the findings and refine techniques, it seems likely that eventually a woman’s annual Pap test will become an even more powerful tool in early detection of many, if not all, forms of female reproductive cancer.
The doctors who conducted the study, which was led by the Ludwig Center’s Dr. Bert Vogelstein, stress that there are still many steps necessary before the Pap test procedure can be adjusted, the next phase being testing healthy women to look for these indicators. Still, though, they find the results of their research promising. Dr. Vogelstein refers to these findings as “. . . the harbinger of things to come.”
Another senior researcher, Dr. Luis A. Diaz, believes that these early findings are only the tip of the iceberg. The Johns Hopkins team plans to widen the parameters of the genetic testing in future studies to include a broader scope of genetic material. The researchers also see promise in adapting these techniques to develop tests for other types of cancer utilizing urine or fecal matter.
Dr. Diaz makes another point about why these findings are so encouraging: the results of the study mean that even more cancers can be detected without any additional impact on well woman care procedures. Expanding the Pap test to detect even more types of cancer allows for broader diagnosis within an existing test. Annual well woman care appointments will not need to change. The same tests women are already accustomed to will simply be made more effective.
Annual Pap tests already save women’s lives every year by helping gynecologists find human papillomavirus and detect abnormal, pre-cancerous cells in the cervix. The idea that this test could eventually aid in the early detection of other female reproductive cancers is one of the most exciting developments gynecology has seen in some time.
Pappilomavirus
