Malignancies that affect internal reproductive organs are a leading cause of global cancer incidence worldwide. Breast, cervical, ovarian, and uterine tumors account for more than half of cancers in women. However, cervical cancer is the only one of these cancer types with a reliable screening system. Routine Pap smears offer a simple, non-invasive way to detect precancerous cells and have reduced the incidence and mortality from cervical cancer by more than 50 percent.
New findings published in Nature Communications last week (February 1) suggest that a version of the Pap smear could be used to provide early warning of some other cancer types as well. In two studies, a group of researchers tested the ability of a new scoring system that the authors call WID-index, or women’s cancer risk identification index, based on the DNA methylation footprint in cervical samples, to predict the risk of developing ovarian and breast cancer.
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