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A simple new test for uterine cancer
Thursday, 7 September  2000
The Utrine cancer test
(from left) Professor Alex Lopata, project scientist Ms Franca Agresta and Dr Lois Salamonsen with gels showing the results of enzyme analysis.
 

Australian scientists have collaborated in developing a 'wash' test for uterine cancer as simple as the pap smear test for cervical cancer.

The new testing procedure is the result a collaboration between the University of Melbourne and Prince Henry's Institute of Medical research. The currently used test is an invasive procedure where samples of uterine tissue are taken for biopsy. The new test works by looking only at the secondary effects indicating cancer, without the need to look at the cells directly.

"We are currently still working with it as a diagnostic tool for women who present with possible symptoms of cancer...but its potential is very much as a universal screening test for many millions of women worldwide", says Associate Professor Alex Lopata, of the the Royal Women's Hospital in Melbourne.

The test could be used by GPs all over the world for endometrial cancer, an illness which claims the lives of 1400 Australian women each year.

In Australian women over 50, uterine cancer is two to three times more prevalent than cervical cancer.

The test involves a simple saline solution being introduced into the uterus via a syringe and thin tube. The solution is then drawn back into the syringe to be sent to a biochemical laboratory for examination. The procedure involves no discomfort and takes only three to five minutes.

At the laboratory, the sample is analysed for two enzymes which play a role in the normal functions of the uterus during menstruation and in early pregnancy. The enzymes help the fertilised egg as it imbeds itself in the uterine wall and begins gestation. Cancerous cells use the enzymes in a similar way, aiding the cancer's invasion of the wall and possibly leading to further spread.

The Melbourne team researching these enzymes since 1996 discovered that their levels can be measured to detect a 'precancerous' stage called hyperplasia. This gives doctors a great warning sign so that they may detect cancer even before it develops.

The test is comparatively cheap, since it involves biochemical rather than pathological diagnosis. The laboratory work may cost half that of the Pap smear test.

In future, both the Uterine wash and the Pap smear tests may carried out during a routine gynaecological examination.

Derek Mc Cormack - The Lab

More Info?
Menopause - the ABC Website in association with an ABC TV Quantum special
HRT Cancer risk - ABC Science online

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