Health News
- Fda Reviews Alternatives To Colonoscopies To Screen For Colorectal Cancer, Including Mail-in, Stool-sampling Kits
The Food and Drug Administration is examining the possibility of two alternatives to colonoscopies for identifying tumors and growths in the large intestine. Kentucky ranks high in deaths from colon cancer, partly because people resist having colonoscopies....
- U Of L Researchers Developing A Breath Test For Lung Cancer
Lung cancer victims often don't notice any symptoms before it's too late, and Kentucky suffers from the highest rate of the disease ? 3,500 deaths per year. Smoking, the leading cause of lung cancer, is the nation's highest among Kentucky...
- E. Ky. Women Pass Up Breast, Cervical Cancer Screenings Due To Embarrassment, Misinformation; Fatalism May Play A Role
Appalachian Kentucky women often don't get available screening test for breast and cervical cancer because of embarrassment, lack of accurate information about availability and guidelines, and lack of encouragement from their doctors to get these...
- Study Finds New Prostate-cancer Test Is Better Than Current One
Researchers at the University of California at Los Angeles say they have developed a new test for prostate cancer that is "more sensitive and more specific" than the usual test for prostate-specific antigen, the UCLA Health System says in a news release...
- Kentucky One Of Six States To Join Cervical Cancer-free America
Kentucky is one of six states that has joined the Cervical Cancer-Free America initiative, led by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The announcement was made today as the country observes National Cervical Cancer Awareness Month. As part...
Health News
U of L researchers develop simple cervical-cancer blood test that could be more accurate and cheaper than Pap smears
A simple blood test can tell whether a woman has cervical cancer and, if she does, "how far it's spread," writes Laura Ungar of The Courier-Journal, reporting on research findings from the University of Louisville.
The test "a heat profile from a patient?s blood called a plasma thermogram," Ungar reports. "Researchers hope it can be used along with Pap smears to detect cervical abnormalities, monitor disease progression and help doctors develop more personalized treatment plans by tracking how patients respond to specific medicines."
Researcher Nicholas Garbett "expects the test will be widely used eventually, but she doubts that it will ever replace the Pap smear, in which cells are scraped from the cervix and examined under a microscope," Ungar writes. ?You could test more frequently,? Garbett said.
Her business associate, Dr. A. Bennett Jenson, "said the new test could be more accurate, since Pap tests have a 37 percent rate of false negatives or false positives," Ungar reports. "Jenson said the experimental plasma test now costs around $250, but if the volume is increased so many blood samples are handled at the same time, the price could drop to $15 or less. Pap smears cost $20 to $30."
Kentucky ranks eighth in cervical cancer, which is especially prevalent in the state's Appalachian region. There, the rate in 2010 was 9.7 per 100,000 women. The state's rate was 8.6 and the national rate was 7.4, Ungar notes.
The test "a heat profile from a patient?s blood called a plasma thermogram," Ungar reports. "Researchers hope it can be used along with Pap smears to detect cervical abnormalities, monitor disease progression and help doctors develop more personalized treatment plans by tracking how patients respond to specific medicines."
Researcher Nicholas Garbett "expects the test will be widely used eventually, but she doubts that it will ever replace the Pap smear, in which cells are scraped from the cervix and examined under a microscope," Ungar writes. ?You could test more frequently,? Garbett said.
Her business associate, Dr. A. Bennett Jenson, "said the new test could be more accurate, since Pap tests have a 37 percent rate of false negatives or false positives," Ungar reports. "Jenson said the experimental plasma test now costs around $250, but if the volume is increased so many blood samples are handled at the same time, the price could drop to $15 or less. Pap smears cost $20 to $30."
Kentucky ranks eighth in cervical cancer, which is especially prevalent in the state's Appalachian region. There, the rate in 2010 was 9.7 per 100,000 women. The state's rate was 8.6 and the national rate was 7.4, Ungar notes.
- Fda Reviews Alternatives To Colonoscopies To Screen For Colorectal Cancer, Including Mail-in, Stool-sampling Kits
The Food and Drug Administration is examining the possibility of two alternatives to colonoscopies for identifying tumors and growths in the large intestine. Kentucky ranks high in deaths from colon cancer, partly because people resist having colonoscopies....
- U Of L Researchers Developing A Breath Test For Lung Cancer
Lung cancer victims often don't notice any symptoms before it's too late, and Kentucky suffers from the highest rate of the disease ? 3,500 deaths per year. Smoking, the leading cause of lung cancer, is the nation's highest among Kentucky...
- E. Ky. Women Pass Up Breast, Cervical Cancer Screenings Due To Embarrassment, Misinformation; Fatalism May Play A Role
Appalachian Kentucky women often don't get available screening test for breast and cervical cancer because of embarrassment, lack of accurate information about availability and guidelines, and lack of encouragement from their doctors to get these...
- Study Finds New Prostate-cancer Test Is Better Than Current One
Researchers at the University of California at Los Angeles say they have developed a new test for prostate cancer that is "more sensitive and more specific" than the usual test for prostate-specific antigen, the UCLA Health System says in a news release...
- Kentucky One Of Six States To Join Cervical Cancer-free America
Kentucky is one of six states that has joined the Cervical Cancer-Free America initiative, led by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The announcement was made today as the country observes National Cervical Cancer Awareness Month. As part...