Cost-effective
screening for cervical cancer in Chennai
The Department of
Molecular Oncology of Cancer Institute has developed a modified Elisa technique
to enable population-based cervical cancer screening in a cost-effective
manner. It has filed for a patent and is in the process of transferring the
technology to a Government of India subsidiary company.
T. Rajkumar, head of
Molecular Oncology, said conventionally, the pap smear test is being used for
screening women for cervical cancer. “We need highly trained pathologists or
cytologists for diagnosis and there are not many in the country. Hence, the
Government of India decided that pap smear cannot apply for a population-based
screening,” he said at a function to hand over the Ion Torrent PGM Unit to the
institute on Wednesday. As of now, village health nurses were trained to detect
abnormal cervix by visual inspection with acetic acid. He said this was
low-cost but had problems of low sensitivity.
“We have developed Double
Antibody Sandwich Elisa for detection of p16 – a protein that forms after Human
Papillomavirus infection is established. It can be done at the point of care
such as primary health centres,” he explained. This can help in early diagnosis
of cervical cancer, even in the pre-cancerous stage.
V. Shanta, chairperson of
Cancer Institute, said Thermo Fisher Life Science Solutions, represented on the
occasion by its managing director, Dev Ohri, was donating the Ion Torrent PGM
Unit costing Rs. 75 lakh as part of its corporate social responsibility. 
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