Dr Sofia Vidali and her colleagues at Queen Mary University of London hope to develop a test to help work out which women and people with a cervix with CIN are at risk of going on to develop cervical cancer and need treatment.
Cervical cancer is almost wholly preventable through HPV vaccination and cervical screening. Cervical screening is a test to help detect high-risk HPV, the common virus which causes nearly all cervical cancers. If present, then the sample is also checked for signs of precancerous cell changes (cervical intraepithelial neoplasia, CIN).
There are three stages to CIN before it develops into cervical cancer, from the first CIN1 to the most advanced, CIN3. CIN can revert back to healthy cells on its own. If CIN is discovered in the cells, women and people with a cervix will be closely monitored or treated to prevent it developing into cancer.
Sofia and her team hope to develop a test which will predict which women with CIN are at risk of it developing into cancer, and which are likely for it to revert back on its own. This will help decide who needs treatment and reduce overtreatment for those who don’t need it.
They will do this by looking at changes to markers on DNA called DNA methylation and hydroxymethylation (5hmC). These markers alter what DNA is acted on in cells and are often changed in cancer. The team will look at changes to 5hmC and DNA methylation in samples of cells from the cervix in women with a healthy cervix, those with CIN2, CIN3 and cervical cancer. They hope they will discover patterns in the changes to these markers that may identify who is likely to develop cervical cancer.
I’m very thankful to receive funding from The Eve Appeal. Their support lets me explore what we know about cervical cancer and whether patterns of DNA methylation and hydroxymethylation can help us predict cancer progression. If we can deepen our understanding of how cancer develops at the molecular level, we can get closer to recognising risk earlier, preventing disease more effectively, and ultimately improving outcomes for everyone.
-Sofia Vidali
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