Non-Invasive Cervical-Cancer Test Studied

U.S. firm SpectRx said Wednesday it is working on a non-invasive test for cervical cancer that could cut the rate of unnecessary biopsies in half.

The company said it is currently testing the new device at five clinical sites.

Recent advances in cervical cancer treatment and prevention are drawing more attention to the need for a more effective and humane method of detecting cervical disease that also helps to preserve the reproductive health of women, said Mark Faupel, SpectRx’s chief technical officer. In addition to potentially reducing the pain and extra cost of following up on false-positive results, the study reported that our device was simple to use and was well accepted by test subjects.

One study involving 629 patients showed the device had a sensitivity as high as 95 percent, compared to the standard testing method called histopathology, the company said.

The new device tests for cervical cancer by analyzing light reflected from the cervix to distinguish between normal and diseased tissue.