Abstract
Female gynecological cancers (FGCs) pose a high burden on women. Among these cancers, endometrial cancer (EC) has the
highest incidence in high-income countries, ovarian cancer (OC) is most lethal, and vulvar cancer (VC) is susceptible to less
awareness and more shame despite its relatively low survival. Unfortunately, these cancers are either asymptomatic or present
with nonspecific symptoms (e.g., postmenopausal bleeding), blocking early diagnosis. As a result, women often receive
treatment at a later stage, leading to poor prognosis and more intensive regimens that significantly impact their overall wellbeing. Additionally, current diagnostic methods have suboptimal accuracy or cause patient discomfort. This emphasizes the
need for a new, user-friendly diagnostic test to detect FGCs at an earlier stage. This way, women's prognosis can be improved.
DNA methylation is a universal early carcinogenic event that can serve as a warning sign. Previous research has shown the
potential of DNA methylation as a biomarker for cervical cancer (CC) in self-samples (i.e., first-void urine (FVU) and vaginal
self-samples), making testing more accessible. Methylation markers specific for each of the FGCs (i.e., EC, OC, and VC) will be
selected and tested in self-samples from a patient cohort using an in-house developed targeted methylation detection
technique (IMPRESS).
Researcher(s)
Research team(s)
Project type(s)