Good news that came from India this week is about efforts to save women’s lives using a simple vinegar test. The effect was extremely effective that it slashed cervical cancer death rates by one-third in a remarkable study of 150,000 women in the slums, where the disease is the top cancer killer of women.
In a cancer conference in Chicago last 2 June 2013, Doctors reported the results and several experts called the outcome "amazing." Reports added that participants conclude that the quick, cheap test could save tens of thousands of lives each year in developing countries because is spots early signs of cancer, allowing treatment before it's too late.
Usha Devi, one of the women in the study, says it saved her life.
"Many women refused to get screened. Some of them died of cancer later," Devi said. "Now I feel everyone should get tested. I got my life back because of these tests."
Pap smears and tests for HPV, a virus that causes most cervical cancers, have slashed cases and deaths in the United States. But poor countries can't afford those screening tools.
This study tried a test that costs very little and can be done by local people with just two weeks of training and no fancy lab equipment. They swab the cervix with diluted vinegar, which can make abnormal cells briefly change color.
This low-tech visual exam cut the cervical cancer death rate by 31 percent, the study found. It could prevent 22,000 deaths in India and 72,600 worldwide each year, researchers estimate.
An ethics controversy developed during the study. The U.S. Office for Human Research Protections faulted researchers for not adequately informing participants in the comparison group about Pap tests for screening. A letter from the agency in March indicated officials seemed to accept many of the remedies study leaders had implemented.
Others defended the study.
"We looked at the ethics very carefully" and felt them to be sound, and visited the project in India, said Trimble of the National Cancer Institute.
Dr. Sandra Swain, a cancer specialist at Medstar Washington Hospital Center, also defended the research. She is president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, and the research results were presented at that group's meeting in Chicago on Sunday.
"There really was no wrongdoing there," she said. "They have no screening anyway," so there is no standard of care now.
In a cancer conference in Chicago last 2 June 2013, Doctors reported the results and several experts called the outcome "amazing." Reports added that participants conclude that the quick, cheap test could save tens of thousands of lives each year in developing countries because is spots early signs of cancer, allowing treatment before it's too late.
Usha Devi, one of the women in the study, says it saved her life.
"Many women refused to get screened. Some of them died of cancer later," Devi said. "Now I feel everyone should get tested. I got my life back because of these tests."
Pap smears and tests for HPV, a virus that causes most cervical cancers, have slashed cases and deaths in the United States. But poor countries can't afford those screening tools.
This study tried a test that costs very little and can be done by local people with just two weeks of training and no fancy lab equipment. They swab the cervix with diluted vinegar, which can make abnormal cells briefly change color.
This low-tech visual exam cut the cervical cancer death rate by 31 percent, the study found. It could prevent 22,000 deaths in India and 72,600 worldwide each year, researchers estimate.
An ethics controversy developed during the study. The U.S. Office for Human Research Protections faulted researchers for not adequately informing participants in the comparison group about Pap tests for screening. A letter from the agency in March indicated officials seemed to accept many of the remedies study leaders had implemented.
Others defended the study.
"We looked at the ethics very carefully" and felt them to be sound, and visited the project in India, said Trimble of the National Cancer Institute.
Dr. Sandra Swain, a cancer specialist at Medstar Washington Hospital Center, also defended the research. She is president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, and the research results were presented at that group's meeting in Chicago on Sunday.
"There really was no wrongdoing there," she said. "They have no screening anyway," so there is no standard of care now.