A URINE-AND-SWAB TEST RULED OUT WOMB CANCER 98.8% OF THE TIME.
A painless test using urine and a vaginal swab showed it could accurately rule out womb cancer for most women with postmenopausal bleeding.
A University of Manchester-led study suggests that testing cells collected from urine and a vaginal swab could spare many women an invasive investigation when womb cancer is unlikely.
WHAT HAPPENED
The DETECT study enrolled 1,864 women with postmenopausal bleeding at seven hospitals. The combined urine-and-vaginal cytology test identified more than 80% of cancers and had a 98.8% negative predictive value. It detected 95.8% of high-grade tumours and 96.4% of cancers that had spread beyond the uterus.
WHY THIS IS HOPESLOP
The hopeful part is not a cure claim. It is the prospect that a simple, painless sample could tell thousands of frightened patients, with high confidence, that cancer is not there — while still flagging the cases most in need of urgent follow-up.
ORIGINAL SOURCEUniversity of ManchesterRead the original report
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