Cervical screening samples could be used to detect up to four types of cancer

Researchers at University College London (UCL) are developing a new test which could help to predict the risk of four cancers with a simple cervical cancer screening.

By analysing cells collected during a smear test (known as a WID-Test), experts could be able to detect early signs of ovarian, breast, womb and cervical cancer, or predict their likelihood of developing.

The research, published in the journal Nature Communications, found that the test may help to identify up to 30% more women with a high risk for breast or ovarian cancer than current genetics-based tests. However, further results on the test’s ability to predict womb and cervical cancer are yet to be published.

The four cancers account for more than half of all cancers in women in Europe

The research involved assessing more than 3,000 cervical screening samples from women across 15 European centres. The researchers then used the samples as a surrogate tissue to measure marks on the DNA (DNA methylation) of cervical cells and found that they can be specifically related to whether someone has breast or ovarian cancer.

When comparing methods, the researchers found that the widely-used genetic-based tests identified 47.5% of women with breast cancer in the highest risk group, whereas the WID-Test identified 76.6% of these women – almost a 30% increase.

Similarly, for ovarian cancer the current identified 35.1% of women in the highest risk group, while the WID-Test identified 61.7% – over 25% more (26.6).

Breast, ovarian, womb and cervical cancers account for more than half of all cancers in women in Europe. With 250,000 diagnosed with these diseases every year and almost 45,000 dying from them, if the WID-Test shows improved capability to detect womb and cervical cancer too, this new method could save thousands of lives.

The team now hopes to test out the new technology in large population trials to see whether the WID-Test does accurately predict cancer before it occurs and do side-by-side comparisons to current tests. Future research will also help determine who the screening could benefit – all women and people with a cervix, or just those known to be at a higher risk (e.g., those with a BRCA alteration).

The WID-test outperforms currently available methods

Professor Widschwendter (UCL Institute for Women’s Health) said: “Our studies have taken a completely novel approach and evaluate an individual’s risk for more than one cancer by assessing several different epigenetic footprints in a single cervical screening sample.

“The WID-test will look for the footprints on a woman’s DNA as she goes through life, recording the track she is taking and whether she is heading towards cancer. The WID-test will revolutionise screening and enable a more personalised approach to cancer prevention and detection, where women will be screened, monitored or treated based on their individual, and changing, risk.

“The results published today show that our tests can out-perform currently available methods and we are looking forward to running trials to validate these initial findings in large numbers of women. We look forward to a future in which cancer screening is driven by better molecular tests that give women the option to take preventive measures at an early stage and journey away from cancer.”