METHODS: This paper reviews devices invented for different cervical cancer screening methods, which are Pap smear test, visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) or Lugol's iodine (VILI), and HPV (human papillomavirus)-DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) self-test in terms of functionality, performance in solving the limitations of screening procedure and additionally where applicable, the cervical cell collection efficacy and abnormality detection accuracy. The devices are either available in the market, published in research articles or published in international patent databases.
RESULT: The reviewed devices either simplified the screening procedure to improve the clinical efficiency and accuracy in screening, reduced the pain and discomfort experienced by women during screening procedures, or achieved both outcomes.
CONCLUSION: Many devices have been invented to improve the screening procedures which may potentially improve the uptake in cervical screening tests and encourage the organization of screening campaigns to reduce cervical cancer incidence.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: We selected 157 NPC cases and 136 controls from two hospitals in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for this study. The polymorphisms studied were genotyped by PCR-RFLP assay and allele and genotype frequencies, haplotype and linkage disequilibrium were determined using SNPstat software.
RESULTS: For the XPD Lys751Gln polymorphism, the frequency of the Lys allele was higher in cases than in controls (94.5% versus 85.0%). For the XRCC1 Arg280His polymorphism, the frequency of Arg allele was 90.0% and 89.0% in cases and controls, respectively and for XRCC1 Arg399Gln the frequency of the Arg allele was 72.0% and 72.8% in cases and controls respectively. All three polymorphisms were in linkage disequilibrium. The odds ratio from haplotype analysis for these three polymorphisms and their association with NPC was 1.93 (95%CI: 0.90-4.16) for haplotype CGC vs AGC allele combinations. The global haplotype association with NPC gave a p-value of 0.054.
CONCLUSIONS: Our study provides an estimate of allele and genotype frequencies of XRCC1Arg280His, XRCC1 Arg399Gln and XPD Lys751Gln polymorphisms in the Malaysian population and showed no association with nasopharyngeal cancer.
OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to identify the glucose sensing pathway related genes of C. glabrata and to analyze the regulation pattern of these genes in response to different surrounding glucose concentrations through the quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR).
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Phylogenetic analysis was carried out on predicted amino acid sequences of C. glabrata and S. cerevisiae to compare their degree of similarity. In addition, the growth of C. glabrata in response to different amounts of glucose (0%, 0.01%, 0.1%, 1% and 2%) was evaluated via the spot dilution assay on prepared agar medium. Besides, the SNF3 and RGT2, which act as putative glucose sensors, and the RGT1 and MIG1, which act as putative transcriptional regulators and selected downstream hexose transporters (HXTs), were analysed through qRT-PCR analysis for the gene expression level under different glucose concentrations.
RESULTS: Comparative analysis of predicted amino acids in the phylogenetic tree showed high similarity between C. glabrata and S cerevisiae. Besides, C. glabrata demonstrated the capability to grow in glucose levels as low as 0.01% in the spot dilution assay. In qRT-PCR analysis, differential expressions were observed in selected genes when C. glabrata was subjected to different glucose concentrations.
CONCLUSIONS: The constructed phylogenetic tree suggests the close evolutionary relationship between C. glabrata and S. cerevisiae. The capability of C. glabrata to grow in extremely low glucose environments and the differential expression of selected glucose-sensing related genes suggested the possible role of these genes in modulating the growth of C. glabrata in response to different glucose concentrations. This study helps deepen our understanding of the glucose sensing mechanism in C. glabrata and serves to provide fundamental data that may assist in unveiling this mechanism as a potential drug target.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 195 Thin Prep Pap smear samples from HPV negative and cancer free females were randomly selected as controls while 106 formalin fixed paraffin embedded samples from females with invasive cervical cancer were randomly selected for the cases group. The polymorphisms were identified using restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) PCR.
RESULTS: We found no significant associations between CYP1A1 MspI polymorphism and cervical cancer in the general Malaysian female population. However, upon ethnic stratification, the variant C/C genotype was significantly associated with a 4.66-fold increase in cervical cancer risk in Malay females (95% CI= 1.21-17.9; p=0.03). No significant association was observed in the Chinese and Indian females. Additionally, there were no significant associations in the dominant model and allele frequency model analysis in both the general and ethnically stratified female population of Malaysia.
CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that the C/C genotype of CYP1A1 MspI polymorphism is associated with the development of cervical carcinoma in the Malay females of Malaysia.