A more specific HPV test to improve and personalize cervical cancer screening
Worldwide, 500.000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer annually. WHO recommends creating effective national programs for HPV-screening and promotion of pre-cancer screening tests and treatment.
HPV tests in current use are highly sensitive for detection of HPV, but have poor specificity in diagnosing HPV-induced cancer. Better tests for secondary HPV screening are therefore in great demand. Our long-term objective is to develop a diagnostic test to improve and personalize the current routines for cervical cancer management.
We have developed a DNA sequencing protocol, TaME-seq, which allows for the identification of mutations and chromosomal integrations. The objective is to use the method to develop a diagnostic test that can predict risk for cervical cancer development. To achieve this, we will analyse about 250 samples of non-cancerous, premalignant and malignant cervical samples to reach the next milestone aiming to validate the methods and the potential biomarkers