This is Robert Cohen with the VOA Special English DevelopmentReport.
Researchers say more than two-hundred-thousand women a year diefrom cervical cancer. These deaths are most common in developingcountries.
The main cause of cervical cancer is the human papillomavirus, orH-P-V. This is a common virus that men or women can give each otherthrough sex. H-P-V may go away. But if it remains in the body, itgreatly increases the chances of cervical cancer.
The cervix is part of the female reproductive system. It is theopening at the end of the uterus.
Cervical cancers develop slowly, usually over a period of ten ortwenty years. There are tests that can find the disease early enoughto save a woman’s life. A common test is called a Pap smear.Laboratory workers examine cells under a microscope.
But many national health systems do not have money for thesetests. In other cases, there might be cultural issues. As a result,more than eighty percent of women who die from cervical cancer arein poor nations.
Now a company in the United Statessays it plans to create a new test for cervical cancer in developingcountries. The biotechnology company Digene says it expects researchand development to take up to five years.
The test will be based on Digene technology already approved foruse in laboratories in the United States and Europe. This technologyuses computers to examine the genetic material in cells.
The goal is a test that is fast and low cost, has ease of use andis culturally acceptable. Women themselves might even be able tocollect the cells during their visit to a doctor. The company saysthe aim is to collect cells and get the test results during the samevisit. If pre-cancerous cells are found, health workers may thenfreeze them to kill them. If cancer is found, doctors may orderradiation or other treatments.
Digene notes that cervical cancer is now considered one of themost preventable cancers in rich nations. But it is a leading causeof cancer deaths among women in South and Central America, Africaand Southeast Asia.
A non-profit group in Seattle, Washington, called PATH will givemore than two-million dollars to the Digene project. PATH is Programfor Appropriate Technology in Health. The money is from a programpaid for by a thirteen-million dollar gift from the Bill and MelindaGates Foundation.
This VOA Special English Development Report was written by JillMoss. This is Robert Cohen.