Cervical cancer and diagnostics

The Danish screening programme for cervical cancer aims to detect and treat precancerous cervical lesions before they develop into cancer. Correct and timely diagnosis of precancerous cervical lesions is therefore essential to achieve the goal.

“Thanks to the funding from the Vissing Foundation, we can investigate new methods to improve the diagnosis of the precancerous cervical lesions. This is important as previous research unfortunately shows that the accuracy of the diagnosis is not good enough Consequently, there are areas with cervical lesions that require treatment but that are overlooked at the examination,” says Vibe Munk Bertelsen, Registrar and PhD student, Gynaecological-Obstetric Department, Regional Hospital Randers.

There currently also is an increased risk of prolonged diagnosing processes with repeated examinations. There also is a risk of overtreatment such as surgeries with cone biopsies before a diagnosis can be made.

The research project originates from Aarhus University in collaboration with the Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics in Randers, Horsens, Gødstrup and Odense/Svendborg, as well as the pathology department in Randers and Vejle, and the Regional Pharmacy Central Denmark. The project has been approved by the Danish Medicines Agency, the Ethics Committee and the GCP unit, as well as registered on several national and international registers.

“We expect that the research project will, among other things, enable us to prevent cervical cancer by optimising diagnostics for the approx. 30,000 women who are examined for precancerous cervical lesions in Denmark each year. The project results can contribute with important knowledge that may form the basis of changing diagnostics and guidelines in Denmark as well as abroad,” says Vibe Munk Bertelsen.