Researchers from the United States, in collaboration with the Maputo General Hospital in Mozambique, have developed a test to diagnose papilloma virus infection for less than five dollars and in 45 minutes. The advance, presented yesterday in the journal Science Translational Medicine, can improve the prevention and early detection in developing countries of cervical cancer, which causes around 350,000 deaths every year in the world.
Screening for the human papilloma virus (HPV), the pathogen responsible for almost all cervical cancers in the world, is one of the pillars in the strategy of the World Health Organization (WHO) to eradicate this tumor, along with vaccination and early treatment of injuries. The goal for 2030 is for 70% of women to undergo early detection tests when they turn 35, and again at 45.
However, the tests available today are expensive, require technological facilities and specialized personnel, or take a long time to produce results. These factors make it difficult to monitor and treat patients from developing countries, and they are what the new test aims to reverse.
The scientists have developed an inexpensive and rapid test, whose samples can be collected by the woman herself and which can be analyzed by local staff after “minimal” training, according to the authors. The first trial was carried out with 30 women from the USA and 55 from Mozambique.
The test separates, amplifies and detects the DNA of the virus through the action of enzymes, which saves costs because it avoids going through a laboratory, and is carried out on a small platform that heats the sample and prevents pollution The test requires minimal equipment.
It is, for now, a prototype that the researchers expect to improve in the coming months, explains in an email Rebecca Richards-Kortum, bioengineer at Rice University in Houston (United States) and director of the research.
The test currently detects subtypes 16 and 18 of the papillomavirus, which cause 70% of cervical cancer cases. Detection capacity is planned to be expanded to at least six more subtypes of the virus, which cause a large proportion of the remaining cases.
The authors of the research emphasize that “the format and affordability” of their prototype can expand cervical cancer screenings in developing countries, which they consider “a critical step in the goal of globally eliminating cervical cancer” .
Early detection of human papilloma virus infections is key to reducing the incidence of this type of tumor. “Women with persistent HPV infections can develop precancerous lesions on the cervix that progress to invasive cancer. Early detection and treatment, before the invasion of other organs occurs, can prevent the development of cancer,” explains Richards-Kortum, who specializes in developing medical technologies for low-income countries.
