Novel, Urine-Based Test for Cervical Cancer Screening

Laura Musselwhite of the Hospital de Câncer de Barretos in Brazil will develop a low-cost test for cervical cancer that women can easily perform at home even in low-resource settings. The test is based on a nitrocellulose strip coated in antibodies to detect the cancer-causing E6 protein produced by the human papillomavirus, which causes cervical cancer. They will enroll 50 women attending their clinic including cervical cancer patients to provide samples for adapting the assay for optimal detection in urine and simplifying it for use in non-clinical settings.