July 2011

Cervical Screening - improving screening using HPV testing

Now that a self test is available for detecting HPV there is every reason for making cervical cancer a disease of the past. Using a simple swab a woman can take a sample herself and send it to Oxford Screening for analysis. This is a very sensitive test that can identify the DNA of the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), the cause of cervical cancer and pre-cancer. The test will detect the high risk viruses if they are present so that the risk of pre-cancer can be properly assessed. When the test is negative, the chance of disease being present is very remote. A positive test will mean that the cervix needs to be examined.

Story lines in Coronation Street, in the past, and East Enders currently remind us that this is an important health issue for young women.

 

 

April 2011

Testing for bowel cancer

The new M2-PK test is mre sensitive than other non-invasive tests and is now available through Oxford Screening. The test detects an enzyme present in tumour cells and cells of bowel polyps so the level of M2-PK in the stool is an indicator of the risk of polyps and bowel tumours. M2-PK is also raised in inflammatory conditions of the bowel such as colitis because cells are ulcerated from the bowel wall in large numbers in these conditions. This test is potentially better than tests that detect blood because polyps and tumours do not bleed all the time.

 

April 2010

Testing for bowel cancer

The British Medical Journal (BMJ) has just published this article that highlights the benefit of testing for blood in the stool to detect bowel cancer. The article demonstrates the value of tests similar to ours that use antibodies to specifically detect blood (immunochemical tests). The article states "immunochemical faeces tests showed good diagnostic performance for colorectal cancer . . high quality studies on their role in the diagnostic investigation of colorectal cancer in primary care are urgently needed." The sensitivity of the test was rated as high and the specificity of the test was rated as good.

Reference: Value of symptoms and additional diagnostic tests for colorectal cancer in primary care: systematic review and meta-analysis. Petra Jellema et al. BMJ 2010;340:c1269.