Hope for cervical cancer patients as scientists develop new treatment

Researchers have developed a new treatment for pre-stages of cervical cancer (not actual cervical cancer) that involves using acid that peels off the cancerous cells.

Austrian scientists at the Comprehensive Cancer Centre of MedUni Vienna and Vienna General Hospital say cervical peeling as a treatment for precancerous conditions showed complete remission was achieved in 82 per cent of the patients after only one application.

That is, the cancer responded to treatment, but still did not go away.

The treatment involves using 85 per cent trichloroacetic acid, which is used for medical and cosmetic skin peeling. The acid is dabbed onto the diseased area of the cervix and the fairly concentrated acid thus sloughs off the affected area.

The research shows eight weeks after the procedure, four in five women treated were found to be in complete remission.

Cervical cancer is the second most frequent cancer, after that of the breast, among women in Kenya at 25 per 100,000 cases. As of 2012, the Kenya Cancer Registry estimated the annual number of cervical cancer cases at 2,454 with annual fatalities at 1,676.

Lead investigator Paul Speiser explains: “The results are extremely promising, since the procedure can be performed easily and very little training is needed to perform the procedure… and the acid itself is inexpensive.

However, the present study does not yet form a basis for widespread application. Prof Speiser added: “We still need more data. We are going to conduct another study to investigate whether the success of the treatment can be increased by a second application. Preliminary data suggest that a second treatment could increase the success rate to more than 90 per cent.”

The traditional treatment for serious pre-stages of cervical cancer consists of a surgical procedure, also cervical conisation. However, its major side-effect is a marked increase in the rate of premature births as well as infection or haemorrhaging (bleeding).

Alternative treatments use freezing (liquid nitrogen), heat (using an electrical generator) and lasers.

These methods are all technically complex, requiring their own special equipment and training and are consequently expensive.

The study notes by using the acid: “It is possible to spare patients the stressful operation and the augmented risk of giving birth prematurely.”

The few side-effects of using the acid is mild discomfort during the procedure and a discharge, which lasts for around two weeks and is caused by the mucosa that is shed following the treatment.

Cervical cancer is caused by human papilloma virus (HPV) infection. The trichloroacetic acid has been used for treating tissue mutations caused by HPV infections in the anal area.

The study was published in February in Obstetrics & Gynaecology, the official publication of the American Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Infection with the human papilloma virus (HPV) can lead to a pre-cancerous condition (which in its mild forms can heal spontaneously and may not require any treatment.)