Updated Pap smear detects ovarian, uterine cancers
Genetic analysis added to procedure offers way to reveal malignancies
By Nathan Seppa
A multipurpose version of a Pap smear can detect genetic signs of ovarian or uterine cancer in women, researchers report. When applied to the cervical swabs, the experimental analysis spotted genetic mutations in every sample from uterine cancer patients and in many from those with ovarian cancer.
The test is far from clinic-ready. But if confirmed in larger studies and developed into a usable “Papgene” test, as the study authors propose, the new approach could change cancer testing in women. The study appears in the Jan. 9 Science Translational Medicine.
Although the genetic screen caught uterine cancers more consistently, it is more apt to have a major impact on diagnosing ovarian cancer, says Shannon Westin, a gynecologic oncologist at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston who wasn’t part of the study team. While uterine cancers are often found due to vaginal bleeding and diagnosed with ultrasound tests, ovarian cancers remain hidden because they lack obvious symptoms and reliable screening tests. That makes the cancer deadly, she says.
Researchers identified 12 genetic mutations that show up in uterine or ovarian tumors. They reasoned that a Pap test could detect these mutations since some cancerous cells get shed from the ovaries and uterus and travel to the cervix, the conical structure where the uterus meets the vagina. A doctor swabs the cervix with a brush to get a sample of cells for a Pap smear, an exam that normally checks for aberrant cell growth related to cervical cancer and can also look for the genetic signature of the virus that causes it.