Virus related gynaecologic cancer

Progression markers for virus related gynaecological cancers

Research projects

This project is focused on women's health and the problems that begin with minor cell changes in some patients and with cancer in others changes that are often missed by healthcare systems.

The purpose of this project is to identify women who are still at risk of developing virus-related gynaecological cancers by finding early markers that will permit rapid and focused prevention, and to increase biological knowledge of the factors that influence the development of cancer in HPV-infected women. It is important to understand the molecular mechanisms of carcinogenesis of CC, PVC and VUC to improve early diagnosis, differential diagnosis, and evaluation of tumor aggressiveness, as well as to improve molecular markers in screening. There is a continuing search for new cellular and viral markers that influence progression to invasive cancer.

Molecular markers will help differentiate between benign disease and malignancy, and thereby prove useful in clinical practice. Identification of protein expression patterns, including cell function-related isoforms in CC, PVC and VUC will contribute to the mechanistic understanding of these types of tumours, and to the optimization of current tumor diagnostics, as well as pave the way for the development of new treatment. Identification of persistent HPV infection in older women and those that not participate in the screening program offers a screening test with higher sensitivity and specificity to identify women at risk of developing cervical cancer. This will reduce the present over-diagnosis of women, contribute to a reduced overtreatment of non-malignant dysplasia and allow focus of the clinical management on the group of women at most need.

By offering older women and the group of women who newer participated in the screening program by an option would increase the coverage and provide better protection against cervical cancer in older women. By including these risk patients in screening program the society may save many lives. Economic evaluation of different methods that are most clinically and cost effective for different patient groups must be the basis for a political decision. This knowledge can change the care of women with pre-invasive lesions of the cervix, and thus make more individualized treatment possible.

Group members

Susanna Alder, PhD student
project: "Primary prevention of Cervical Cancer in countries with high and low incidence of the disease"

Ellinor Östensson, forskningsassistent
project: "Health economic aspects of cervical cancer screening"

Cecilia Ranhem, PhD student
project: "Potential progression markers and HPV in primary vaginal cancer:clinical and diagnostic impact".

Dissertations

Ingrid Norman, 2015-10-17
Human papillomavirus and cervical cancer : detection of potential markers of disease progression using liquid-based cytology

Ellinor Östensson, 2014-10-24
Health economic aspects of cervical cancer screening

Maria Persson, 2014-04-25
New diagnostic and prognostic methods to improve the effectiveness of cervical cancer screening

Susanne Friederike Muller, 2013-11-29
Adenocarcinoma of the cervix uteri. Methods to improve diagnostics:biological markers and HPV testing

Maria Fröberg, 2011-05-06
Prevention of cervical cancer through use of liquid-based cytology and suplementary HPV testing in population-based screening

Sophia Brismar Wendel, 2009-06-05
HPV genotyping and potential progression markers in cervical intraepithelial neoplasia : Clinical and diagnostic impact