New cervical cancer test detects precancerous lesions years in advance

Martin Widschwendter and Chiara Herzog from the EUTOPS Institute at the University of Innsbruck © Patrick Saringer A newly developed test detects early precancerous changes in the cervix. This procedure works better than currently available methods and detects the changes years before cancer develops. The test was developed under the direction of Martin Widschwendter, Professor of Cancer Prevention and Screening at the University of Innsbruck. The new test is part of a research program that aims to predict the risk of four types of cancer (breast, ovarian, uterine body and cervical cancer) from a single cervical smear . The study published today in the journal Genome Medicine reports on a new, more sensitive and informative method of cervical cancer screening - the WID-CIN test - that can reliably identify or predict precancerous lesions of the cervix. Currently, cervical cancer screening in Austria consists of examining microscopic changes in the cells of the cervix. However, the new test detects precancerous lesions even when no changes are yet visible microscopically and could thus enable more targeted screening.