Mayo Clinic Tampon Test for detecting Endometrial Cancer at early stage.

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Endometrial cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women. Approximately 2.8 percent of women will be diagnosed with endometrial cancer at some point during their lifetime, based on 2011-2013 data. Most cases of endometrial cancer are diagnosed in women aged 45-74. The number of new cases of endometrial cancer was 25.4 per 100,000 women per year based on 2009-2013 cases.[1]

There is no standard screening test to identify endometrial cancer, hence it is often detected late when the disease has already advanced.

Mayo clinic expert Jamie N. Bakkum-Gamez, M.D. and her team are in the process of developing a simple screening test that can be done at home using a tampon. It is based on the concept of detecting tumor DNA hypermethylation in vaginal pool DNA picked up by ordinary tampon.

Methylation is a kind of molecular marker of cancer, and the researchers found it in 9 of 12 genes they analyzed in the cancerous women. Importantly, the tampon findings were in line with results from “endometrial brushing,” which is an invasive procedure.

 “Unfortunately, there is no equivalent to a Pap smear or a mammogram for endometrial cancer,” says Jamie Bakkum-Gamez, M.D., a gynecologic oncologist at Mayo Clinic and lead author of the study. “We know that the earlier a woman is diagnosed, the better the likelihood is that she is going to have a positive outcome from cancer treatment.

The team is carrying out larger clinical trials before the test can be turned into ‘a home-based test.’

In this Mayo Clinic Minute, reporter Vivien Williams talks to Dr. Bakkum-Gamez about the tampon test for endometrial cancer.

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[1] http://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/corp.html