Point-of-care test for cervical cancer in LMICs

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Sulma I. Mohammed, Purdue University; Wen Ren, Purdue University; Lisa Flowers, Emory University; Bartek Rajwa, Purdue University; Carla J. Chibwesha, University of North Carolina; Groesbeck P. Parham, University of North Carolina; Joseph M.K. Irudayaraj, Purdue University
• Language: English
• Date: 2016-04-05
• Publisher: Impact Journals
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2016 Mohammed et al.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.18632/oncotarget.7709
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Oncotarget
• ISSN: 1949-2553
• Volume: 7
• Issue: 14
• Start Page: 18787
• End Page: 18797
• Keywords: point-of-care; cancer; Cell Biology; CARCINOMA; GOLD NANOPARTICLE; PATHOGEN DETECTION; Oncology; P97; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; cervical; Africa; Science & Technology; SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA; CLINICAL-PERFORMANCE; HUMAN-PAPILLOMAVIRUS; VALOSIN-CONTAINING PROTEIN; PROGNOSIS; ELEVATED EXPRESSION; LMIC
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Public Health; Health Sciences, Oncology; Health Sciences, Obstetrics and Gynecology

Abstract

Cervical cancer screening using Papanicolaou's smear test has been highly effective in reducing death from this disease. However, this test is unaffordable in low- and middle-income countries, and its complexity has limited wide-scale uptake. Alternative tests, such as visual inspection with acetic acid or Lugol's iodine and human papillomavirus DNA, are sub-optimal in terms of specificity and sensitivity, thus sensitive and affordable tests with high specificity for on-site reporting are needed. Using proteomics and bioinformatics, we have identified valosin-containing protein (VCP) as differentially expressed between normal specimens and those with cervical intra-epithelial neoplasia grade 2/3 (CIN2/CIN3+) or worse. VCP-specific immunohistochemical staining (validated by a point-of-care technology) provided sensitive (93%) and specific (88%) identification of CIN2/CIN3+ and may serve as a critical biomarker for cervical-cancer screening. Future efforts will focus on further refinements to enhance analytic sensitivity and specificity of our proposed test, as well as on prototype development.