Hyderabad: The single cell assay for human papillomavirus E6/E7 in the cervical sample is found to have better diagnostic results than the HPV DNA testing, says a new finding which promises to help detect cervical cancer early.
Five per cent of all women, who test positive for high-risk HPV, progress to cervical cancer, which makes it important to detect those high-risk ones. The single cell test offers a more accurate cervical cancer screening tool and helps to distinguish a benign HPV infection from a cancerous one.
The study, recently conducted in AIIMS using molecular diagnostics of single cell, found that the HPV E6 and E7 could be identified. The current testing is by HPV DNA where specific viruses are not identified and there is also a chance of false positives, said a senior oncologist on condition of anonymity.
The burden of cervical cancer is very high in India with 1.2 lakh women suffering from it. About 25 per cent of the cases result in deaths, and every eight minutes one woman in the country loses her life to cervical cancer.
HPV is also responsible for cancer of the anus, vulva, vagina and also penis. There are 100 types of HPV virus, but those causing cancer are a set of 13 viruses of which two of them, HPV 16 and HPV 18, are very dangerous.
