Large-Scale Cervical Cancer Screening Project Planned for India

A large-scale cervical cancer screening project in Kolkata (Calcutta), India, will be conducted over 5 years and is expected to reach 50,000 women.

Screening will take place at community-based mobile field clinics in the villages neighboring Kolkata. Women found to have cervical cancer or precancer will be immediately treated at the field clinic--a process referred to as "screen and treat"--or referred for follow up. The project also includes educational campaigns to raise awareness about HPV, cervical cancer, and other women's health issues.

Qiagen (Frankfurt, Germany) and the Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute (CNCI; Kolkata, India) will collaborate to establish the cervical cancer-screening program. Qiagen will provide diagnostic tests for the human papillomavirus (HPV)--the primary cause of cervical cancer. CNCI will conduct the screening and provide appropriate treatment as needed.

Qiagen's hybrid capture 2 (hc2) HPV DNA testing technology (also known as the digene HPV Test) will be used to screen women for cancer-causing types of HPV to identify those with or at risk for developing cervical cancer. Qiagen's HPV test platform uses advanced molecular diagnostic technologies to identify the presence of the genetic code (DNA) of 13 high-risk, cancer-causing types of HPV. The women will also be screened using VIA (visual inspection with acetic acid) according to the Indian National guidelines for cervical screening.

The Kolkata screening project is a part of QIAGENcares, Qiagen's corporate social responsibility program focused on improving health by providing access to screening methods for infectious diseases in emerging and developing countries.

Przemek Jedrysik M.A., public relations manager at Qiagen, explained why Kolkata was chosen for the project, "West Bengal has one of the highest cervical cancer burdens in the world, little awareness, and limited screening programs. Kolkata also has a very high population density, which facilitates access to patients for effective and efficient screening in large-scale projects such as this. Finally, Bengal has also always taken leadership in education, culture and social reform."

The cervical cancer-screening program was officially launched at the opening ceremony of the 2009 Asia-Oceania Research Organization on Genital Infections and Neoplasia (AOGIN) conference in Kolkata on April 25-26. The first women are expected to be screened in June.

Qiagen is a global provider of sample and assay technologies. Sample technologies are used to isolate and process DNA, RNA, and proteins from biological samples such as blood or tissue. Assay technologies are used to make such isolated biomolecules visible. The company provides its products to molecular diagnostics laboratories, academic researchers, pharmaceutic and biotechnology companies, and applied testing customers for purposes such as forensics, animal or food testing, and pharmaceutic process control.

The CNCI is an autonomous institution under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India and jointly financed by the Government of India and the Government of West Bengal. The CNCI continues to uphold its original commitments to the control and prevention of human cancer.

Related Links:
Qiagen
Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute