A study has described a novel approach to preventing cervical cancer, based on findings showing successful reduction in the risk of cervical cancer after removal of a discrete population of cells in the cervix, reports [s]News-Medical[/s]. The study that looked at squamo-columnar junction cells, or SCJ cells, which reside in the cervical canal and have been implicated as the origins of cervical cancer. A research team co-led by Dr Christopher Crum, director, [b]Brigham and Women's Hospital Women’s and Perinatal Pathology[/b], demonstrated that removal of SCJ cells resulted in a markedly lower risk of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia – a non-cancerous, abnormal growth of cells on the surface of the cervix that may progress to cervical cancer. Crum emphasises that eliminating SCJ cells does not prevent cervical intraepithelial neoplasias nor does it prevent human papilloma virus infection, which can lead to cervical cancer. But it seems to alter recurrence patterns, perhaps by removing the population that is most vulnerable to development of the more dangerous pre-cancers.
[link url=http://www.news-medical.net/news/20140726/Researchers-demonstrate-novel-approach-in-cervical-cancer-prevention.aspx]Full News-Medical report[/link]
[link url=http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ijc.28978/abstract]International Journal of Cancer abstract[/link]