Researchers Use NIV Methods for Diagnosis of Endometrial Cancer

A team of Catalan cancer researchers has suggested using materials containing biomarkers and cellular debris collected during routine Pap smears and other non-invasive sampling methods as the basis for genomic diagnosis of endometrial cancer.

Currently, methods for detecting endometrial cancer are limited to high-risk populations and symptomatic women, since 90% of endometrial cancers present with abnormal bleeding. To improve this situation, investigators at Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (Barcelona, Spain) and collaborators in Catalonia and abroad suggested taking advantage of the anatomical continuity of the uterine cavity with the cervix. By doing so, they suggested the possibility of genomic exploitation of material from routine, non-invasive sampling methods. This would represent a unique opportunity to detect signs of disease using biological material shed from the upper genital tract.


The investigators have taken initial steps in this process by recruiting nearly 500 female subjects and gathering more than 1,600 biological samples for analysis.

Certain questions remain to be addressed in order to accelerate the implementation of novel technologies for routine screening in a clinical setting. In this regard, the investigators discussed new perspectives on detection of endometrial cancer using genomic and other biomarkers in minimally invasive sampling methods in a paper published in the June 19, 2019, online edition of the International Journal of Cancer.

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Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute