Clinical Trial Begins for New Cervical Cancer Detection Optical Probe

A new cervical cancer detection method, which uses a small fiber optic probe instead of a surgical knife, is being tested through an $11 million National Institutes of Health grant for clinical trials at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

The trials employ a cancer-detecting optical probe developed by electrical engineering professor Dr. Rebecca Richards-Kortum at The University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Michele Follen, a professor of gynecologic oncology at M. D. Anderson, is leading the clinical trial to support U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of the device.

Dr. Richards-Kortum's painless probe is being used on 1,800 women in three Houston locations as an alternative to the colposcopy - the test which is a follow-up to the long-standing, painless cancer detection procedure known as the Pap smear. Colposcopy is performed after the Pap smear indicates the possibility of cervical cancer - the second most common cancer in women worldwide. A smaller trial will also take place in British Columbia, Canada, where Dr. Calum MacAulay of the British Columbia Cancer Centre is assessing the device's technical feasibility.

If the new probe imaging method proves effective and cost efficient, it could replace the Pap smear as a front-line detection tool, according to researchers. Pap smears are obtained by collecting a sample of cells from the cervix with a wooden or plastic spatula and brush. Specimens are placed on glass slides and examined. If abnormalities are found, women are typically asked to return for colposcopy. A colposcope uses a magnifying lens to view the cervix under white and green light after a mild acid solution is applied. If trouble spots are seen, a biopsy is performed.

Dr. Richards-Kartum's probe employs fluorescence and reflectance spectroscopy - measuring the wavelengths of light bounced off different surfaces. The probe shines light on the cervix and reports what it sees to a computer in the physician's office. Because cancer cells interact with light differently than healthy cells, the computer translates the light's interaction into either a healthy report or a possible problem.

"The new device doesn't require as much training and visual recognition skills as required for performing a colposcopy," says Dr. Follen. "It narrows the reporting time and is estimated to reduce the false positive rate by 20 percent."

Immediate results are more readily available to patients with no need for invasive biopsies and two-week follow-up appointments typically required to confirm the presence of pre-cancerous cells with standard screening methods.

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