Narrow Results

Significance: Over 80% of cervical cancer cases occur in lower-to-middle income countries (LMIC’s). This is partly because current screening techniques lack affordability, accessibility, and/or reliability for use in LMIC’s. Aim: To develop an optical technique for cervical cancer screening that is affordable, accessible, and reliable for use in LMIC’s. Approach: We developed a portable diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) system, which costs $<\$2500$ USD to manufacture, and employs a Raspberry Pi to extract the absorption (${\mu }_a$) and reduced scattering (${\mu }_s^{\prime }$) coefficients of biological tissue. The system was subject to travel and intentional rough handling. It was further used to capture 320 DRS spectra taken from 64 tissue-mimicking phantoms. Two users collected phantom data, one “expert”, and one “novice” in biomedical optics. The system was also used to collect 335 spectra from colon, small intestine, and rectal tissue of a fresh ex vivo porcine specimen. A previously described artificial intelligence model was used to extract optical properties, and a GradientBoostingClassifier identified the organ of origin for ex vivo spectra. Results: System alignment was robust to intentional rough handling and travel. Phantom ${\mu }_a$ and ${\mu }_s^{\prime }$ were predicted with average root-mean square error of $<10\%$, regardless of user. Regarding ex vivo data, the system predicted the organ of origin with 80–90% accuracy. Statistical differences between predicted ${\mu }_a$ were observed in all three organs ($p<0.001$–0.03), and between ${\mu }_s^{\prime }$ in two organs ($p<0.001$–0.07). Conclusions: The DRS system has the potential to be affordable, reliable, and accessible for cervical screening in LMIC’s.

Antrodia camphorata is a Chinese herb indigenous to Taiwan. Previous reports demonstrated that it could induce apoptosis in some cancer cells. The purpose of this study was to investigate the apoptotic effect of the crude extract of A. camphorata in cervical cancer cells. Two human cervical cancer cell lines, HeLa and C-33A, were treated with extract of A. camphorata (10–1000 μg/mL). We found that A. camphorata extract was cytotoxic to both cervical cancer cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner as examined by MTT assay. Treatment with A. camphorata extract at 400 μg/mL induced a 2.3- and 4.4-fold increase in oligonucleosome formation from the cleaved chromosomal DNA in HeLa and C-33A cells, respectively. A. camphorata extract also activated caspase-3, -8, and -9 activities and increased the cytosolic level of cytochrome c in both cell lines as the dosage increased. Furthermore, A. camphorata extract increased expressions of Bak, Bad and Bim, while decreasing expressions of Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL of the Bcl-2 family proteins in HeLa and C-33A cells. The expression of IAP proteins, XIAP and survivin, was also decreased in both cervical cancer cells after treatment with A. camphorata. Our in vitro study suggests that A. camphorata is cytotoxic to cervical cancer cells through both extrinsic and intrinsic apoptotic mechanisms. It could be used as a novel phytotherapeutic agent or auxiliary therapy in the treatment of cervical cancer.

Metastasis is the most prevalent cause of cancer-associated deaths amongst patients with cervical cancer. Epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) is essential for carcinogenesis, and it confers metastatic properties to cancer cells. Gossypol is a natural polyphenolic compound with anti-inflammation, anti-oxidant, and anticancer activities. In this study, we investigated the antimetastatic and antitumour effects of gossypol on human cervical cancer cells (HeLa and SiHa cells). Gossypol exerted a strong inhibition effect on the migration and invasion of human cervical cancer cells. It reduced the focal adhesion kinase (FAK) pathway-mediated expression of matrix metalloproteinase-2 and urokinase-type plasminogen activator, subsequently inhibiting the invasion of SiHa cells. In addition, gossypol reversed EMT induced by transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-$\beta$1) and up-regulated epithelial markers, such as E-cadherin but significantly suppressed Ras homolog family member (Rho)A, RhoB, and p-Samd3. The tail vein injection model showed that gossypol treatment via oral gavage reduced lung metastasis. Gossypol also decreased tumour growth in vivo in the nude mouse xenograft model. All these findings suggest that gossypol suppressed the invasion and migration of human cervical cancer cells by targeting the FAK signaling pathway and reversing TGF-$\beta$1-induced EMT. Hence, gossypol warrants further attention for basic mechanistic studies and drug development.

Cervical cancer is one of the deadliest diseases in women worldwide. It is caused by long-term infection of the skin cells and mucosal cells of the genital area of women. The most disturbing thing about this cancer is the fact that it does not show any symptoms when it occurs. In the diagnosis and prognosis of cervical cancer disease, machine learning has the potential to help detect it at an early stage. In this paper, we analyzed different supervised machine learning techniques to detect cervical cancer at an early stage. To train the machine learning model, a cervical cancer dataset from the UCI repository was used. The different methods were evaluated using this dataset of 858 cervical cancer patients with 36 risk factors and one outcome variable. Six classification algorithms were applied in this study, including an artificial neural network, a Bayesian network, an SVM, a random tree, a logistic tree, and an XG-boost tree. All models were trained with and without a feature selection algorithm to compare the performance and accuracy of the classifiers. Three feature selection algorithms were used, namely (i) relief rank, (ii) wrapper method and (iii) LASSO regression. The maximum accuracy of 94.94% was recorded using XG Boost with complete features. It is also observed that for this dataset, in some cases, the feature selection algorithm performs better. Machine learning has been shown to have advantages over traditional statistical models when it comes to dealing with the complexity of large-scale data and uncovering prognostic features. It offers much potential for clinical use and for improving the treatment of cervical cancer. However, the limitations of prediction studies and models, such as simplified, incomplete information, overfitting, and lack of interpretability, suggest that further efforts are needed to improve the accuracy, reliability, and practicality of clinical outcome prediction.

The shape of the hazard function is of great interest in studies of the efficacy of cancer treatment and post-treatment cancer surveillance. We present estimates of the hazard rates obtained from data on survival of patients with cervical cancer and discuss associated methodological problems. Our study was carried out on survival data for 1826 women with cancer of the cervix uteri stratified by clinical stage and tumor growth pattern. We used nonparametric and various smoothing techniques for estimating the hazard function from the data; these were a nonparametric estimator based on the Nelson-Aalen method and its kernel counterparts, the kernel local likelihood estimator with a data-adaptive bandwidth, and a parametric estimator specifically designed for two-component hazards. For all categories of patients, the estimated hazard functions pass through a clear-cut maximum, tending to zero as the follow-up time becomes sufficiently long. In one stratum of patients we observed a bimodal shape of the hazard function. There are two alternative models that provide equally plausible explanations of this observation; one of them attributes the observed pattern of the hazard function to a certain heterogeneity of tumor cell population, while the competing model refers to a heterogeneity of the subsample of patients under study. Providing the probability of cure is high, as is the case in our setting, there is no way to discriminate between the two models on the basis of survival data.

This paper presents the method of grading of cervical cancer images according to cell formation in the tissue. The variation of intensity and texture complexity of cancer cell images are calculated by fractal dimension methods. Box Counting Method (D_B) and HarFA Programme software are used to find out the dimension of the cells. Contact model and Epidemic Model are the two different models used here. The contact model shows the contact of the cells and the formation of the cancer in the part of the organ. The Epidemic model shows the growth of cancer. Lacunarity is formed between the cells. If the Lacunarity increases the dimension also increases. On seeing the growth of the cancer cell the pathologist can determine the grade of the cancer which in turn will help him to diagnose the cervical cancer and recommend appropriate treatment.

Taking One for the Girls – Meina Lee tells APBN why boys might want to consider taking the cervical cancer vaccine.

Catching Cancer Early By Dr Achim Plum.

APBN speaks with Dr Axel Ullrich, research director of the Singapore OncoGenome Project at A*STAR's Institute of Medical Biology and director of Molecular Biology at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, who sheds more light on the cancer challenges ahead.

APBN speaks to Professor Soo Khee Chee, director of National Cancer Center, about the much dreaded disease.

APBN chats with Dr Susan Lim, who is widely known in Asia and Singapore for being the first surgeon to have performed a successful liver transplant.

Cancer Research in Asia Pacifc by Serene Ong.

AUSTRALIA — Prototype Test for Predicting Clinical Outcome for Melanoma Patients

AUSTRALIA — New Model Predicts Long-term Survival of Critically Ill Patients

AUSTRALIA — World's First Computerized System to Predict Premature Births

CHINA — Biomagnetics (BMGP) Enters Chinese Biotech Market

CHINA — More Than 12 000 Babies Hospitalized for Taking Tainted Milk

CHINA — New Test Could Prevent Cervical Cancer

INDONESIA — Indonesia's Pharmaceutical Companies Get Boost in Competitive Advantage from Launch of Newport Horizon Premium and IDRAC Solutions

INDIA — India's Government Nods to Set up 10 Testing Units for Ayurvedic Drugs

INDIA — DuPont India Opens First Research Facility in Hyderabad

INDIA — CSIR and Godavari Sugar to Set up India's First Sugarcane Biorefinery

INDIA — FRLHT Develops Herbal Drug for Diabetes Mellitus

INDIA — Chhattisgarh Government to Set Up Herbal Medicinal Park to Promote Industry

INDIA — Escorts Heart to Launch 3D Trans Esophageal Echocardiography

INDIA — India Develops Hybrid Mustard Seed, Better Yield Expected

INDIA — Hindustan Latex to Develop MediPark

NEW ZEALAND — NZ Bird Flu “Could Mutate into More Serious Form”

NEW ZEALAND — HRC Invests Over $1.07 million to Help Build International Health Research Partnerships

SINGAPORE — Singapore Researchers Find Key Gatekeeper Gene that Plays Key Role in Colon Cancer

SINGAPORE — Singapore Research Produces Plastic Micro Needles that can be Mass-Produced More Easily and Cheaply for Painless Injections and Extraction of Bodily Fluids

SINGAPORE — Singapore Researchers Develop New Stem Cell Therapy for Heart Disease

SINGAPORE — Singapore's First Commercial Developer of Molecular Diagnostic Assays Commences Operation

SINGAPORE — Singapore to Host Medical Equipment Manufacturing Show

VIETNAM — Local Scientists Create Sperm from Stem Cells

VIETNAM — Vietnam to Reinforce Crackdown on Fake Medicine

Driving Stem Cell Technology Forward – Stem Cell Sciences In-licenses Technology from University of Cambridge for Reprogramming Adult Cells into Stem Cells.

The Latest State-of-the-art Clinical Trial Supply Service Center Opens in China.

Charles River Strengthens Its Presence in China.

In the Making – China Biologic to Become Largest Non-state-owned Producer of Plasma-based Products in China.

Joint Venture between Eli Lilly and Jubilant Organosys Boosts Development of Molecules.

From Discovery to Delivery – Orchid & Merck Collaborate to Develop Novel Anti-infective Drugs.

New Standard for Early Diagnosis of Urinary Bladder Cancer Launched.

Gene Bridges Granted Licenses to Takeda Pharmaceuticals Licenses for Recombineering Technology.

East-West Collaboration to Develop Therapeutics for Fully-human Antibody Program.

The Kiwis Open Commercialization Pathway into the Land of Dragons.

Innovative Institute-Industry Partnership in Translational Cancer Research.

Singapore to be the Takeda's Center of Clinical Development.

First South-east Asian Hub for Solar PV Testing and Certification Opens in Singapore.

AUSTRALIA – Australia Developing Breakthrough Leukemia Research Strategy.

AUSTRALIA – Obesity Associated With Detrimental Changes in Ovary.

AUSTRALIA – Queensland's Dengue Outbreak Worsens.

CHINA – Global Fund Assists Guangxi In Anti-AIDS Programs.

CHINA – Chinese Scientists Clone 5 Human Embryos for Research.

CHINA – China Stockpiles Vaccine for Possible Bird Flu Outbreak.

CHINA – QIAGEN Supports Cervical Cancer Screening for Underprivileged.

CHINA – JCI and Peking University Collaborate on Patient Safety and Education in China.

CHINA – Scientists Identify Key Drug Target in Bird Flu Virus.

CHINA – China Facing Burden from Chronic Diseases.

CHINA – Chinese Scientists Discover Achilles' Heel for SARS Virus.

CHINA – 18 HFMD Child Fatalities in China.

CHINA – Mainland China Reports 838 Infectious Disease Fatalities in February.

HONG KONG – Lethal Fungal Contamination in Drug.

HONG KONG – Hong Kong Experiences Record High HIV Infection Level.

INDIA – Stem Cells Help Save Man's Leg From Amputation.

INDIA – Human Trials for Kalaazar Vaccine Soon.

INDIA – Stem Cell Banks Expand on Prospects of Healthy Dividend.

INDIA – Biotech Rice to be Commercially Available in India by 2012.

INDIA – Rising Demand for Herbal Medicines in Jammu Kashmir.

INDIA – India, UNESCO to Set up Biotech Centre.

INDONESIA – Health Ministry Clears up Vaccine Dispute.

JAPAN – Bird Flu Detected in Second Quail Farm in Central Japan.

NEW ZEALAND – NZ Med Tech Sector Continues to Thrive.

NEW ZEALAND – Aerobics Classes can Cause Hearing Damage.

SINGAPORE – Dengue fever is on the rise in Singapore.

SINGAPORE – Will New US Policy Stem Talent Flow to Singapore?

SINGAPORE – HBOT Now Available at SGH.

SINGAPORE – Cancer Society's Colorectal Screenings Helped Save 123 lives.

SINGAPORE – National Heart Centre Singapore Unveils New Techniques for Heart Patients.

SINGAPORE – NTU Seals Global Partnerships in Environmental Sciences R&D.

SINGAPORE – NUH Cancer Center in Major Cancer Drug Trial.

SINGAPORE – Need More Trained Doctors? Build New Medical School.

VIETNAM – Harmful Bacteria Found in Bottled Water.

OTHER REGIONS — EUROPE – Hot Tea Linked to Throat Cancer.

USA – New Vaccine Method 'Offers Instant Immunity'.

Australian Company Develops Potential UV Vaccine.

Phylogica Enters Agreement with Roche to Evaluate Phylomer Technology.

CSL Behring Awards $87,000 to Patient Organizations in USA.

Pfizer, Crown Bioscience Tie up for Asian Cancers R&D.

Sinovac Files Clinical Trial Application with SFDA for Vaccine against Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease.

Takeda and Pfizer to Co-Promote Takeda's Actos^® (pioglitazone HCl) for the Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes in China.

Alvogen Launches Asia Operations.

Praj to Collaborate with Novozymes on Advanced Biofuels.

Biocon and HCG Group of Hospitals Join Hands to Fight Against Cervical Cancer.

Shantha Introduces India's First Oral Cholera Vaccine.

Pfizer, TCGLS to Develop Preclinical Candidate Molecules.

Hospira to Acquire Orchid's Generic Injectable Pharmaceuticals Business.

Dicerna Pharma, Kyowa Hakko to Collaborate on RNAi.

Ambit Biosciences and Astellas Enter Strategic Partnership.

Inno Biologics, CEVEC for Using Sign Agreement Human CAP Technology.

Clinical Genomics and its Exclusive China Partner BioChain Group Receive CFDA Approval for InSure® FIT™ in China.

China-U.S. Team Uses Stem Cells in Cataract Treatment.

Celsion Corporation Announces Launch of the OPTIMA Study in China.

3SBio's PEG-irinotecan Wins IND Approval from China FDA.

New Zealand to Fund Joint Research Centers with China.

Roche Receives China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) Approval for the CINtec® PLUS Cytology Test to Help Prevent Women from Developing Cervical Cancer.

Infographic: Cervical Cancer & Human Papilloma Virus – What You Do Not Know May Save Your Life.

Transgenic Monkeys for Autism Study in China - Featuring Dr. Zilong Qiu.

Cervical Cancer is Highly Preventable. Don’t Succumb to It.

Do Your Part to Stop Infectious Disease from Spreading: Insights from Infectious Diseases Expert — Dr. Leong Hoe Nam.

Infectious Diseases in Asia Pacific: Top Five Targets for Prophylaxis Vaccines.

Experts at World Congress of Internal Medicines Reinforce Importance of BETADINE^® in Disease Prevention, Infection Control and Oral Mucositis Treatment.

First Dengue Vaccination Program in the Americas Starts in Paraná State of Brazil.

Agilent Technologies Array CGH Platform Assures Quality of Cancer Cell Lines Used in Biomedical Research.

ARTES and Burnet Institute Join Forces to Develop Novel Hepatitis C Vaccine.

Cardiac Imaging Reveals the Association Between Increased Prevalence of Coronary Issues Among Men with HIV and Higher Indications of Cardiac Inflammation.

NCCS Awards Contract for Proton Beam Therapy System to Hitachi Asia Ltd.

Hitachi is Selected by National Cancer Centre Singapore for Southeast Asia’s First Proton Beam Therapy System.

FEI Introduces New Talos S/TEM for Life and Materials Sciences.

Systematic Review of 58 Publications of Real-World Use of GARDASIL^® Presented at AOGIN Congress.

Merck and MD Anderson Cancer Center Enter Three-Year Strategic Collaboration.

Cervical Cancer: A Preventable Disease.

Consumption of Grilled Meat Linked to Higher Mortality Risk Among Breast Cancer Survivors.

Prostate Cancer Team Cracks Genetic Code to Show Why Inherited Disease Can Turn Lethal.

Social Interaction Can Affect Breast Cancer Outcomes.

One More Piece in the Puzzle of Liver Cancer Identified.

Synpromics Announces a Research Collaboration with GE Healthcare to Extend the Toolbox for Production of Biologics.

Illumina and Bio-Rad Launch Solution for Single-Cell Genomic Sequencing to Enable Robust Study of Complex Diseases.

APAC drug delivery devices market to reach $5.4 billion in 2023.

Mergermarket released Global Pharma, Medical & Biotech trend report for Q3 2017.

Global BioLife develops breakthrough modified sugar.

Breakthrough noodle formula with low-glycemic score of 38.

Aphria ships first medical cannabis oil to Australia’s Medlab for clinical trial.

Envirotainer doubles e-technology capacity across Asia.

Genesis CancerCare Queensland is first in Asia-Pacific to use Elekta’s Venezia Brachytherapy Applicator.

iX Biopharma secures European patent for WaferiX drug delivery technology.

Shingrix approved in the US for prevention of shingles in adults aged 50 and over.

First three-monthly long-acting treatment for schizophrenia patients in Singapore.

China, Brazil and Russia named by healthcare companies as riskiest markets for compliance and regulation.

New survey shows patients in Asia Pacific fail to recognize their fragility fracture is due to osteoporosis.

Healthcare community join forces to fight growing epidemic of fragility fractures caused by osteoporosis.

Genetic mechanism behind aging rate uncovered.

China launches survey of endangered porpoises in Yangtze River.

Academic institutes and companies join forces to boost precision nutrition research.

Gigantic DNA database to be built in Nanjing.

Home test kit for cervical screening developed by BGI.

Chinese HPV vaccine gets permission for clinical testing.

Ineffective baby vaccines by two companies recalled.

Robot scores high result on national doctor qualification test.

Head transplant ‘never’ to be allowed.

China ranks second in Global Science Innovation.

Veolia to support Danone Nutricia Wuxi plant in China.

Chinese drug delivery devices market to reach USD638.4 million by 2023.

Drug development companies in APAC need to raise their game to capitalise on the $33bn+ immuno-oncology treatment opportunity

Singapore’s pharmaceutical market value to reach $1.15 billion by 2021

Ryzodeg reduces hypoglycaemia in type 2 diabetic fasting patients

FDA approves Amgen’s Repatha (evolocumab) to prevent heart attack and stroke

FDA approves first drug for rare disease, eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis

FDA approves first biosimilar for the treatment of certain breast and stomach cancers

FDA approves novel gene therapy to treat patients with a rare form of inherited vision loss

Singapore institutes collaborate with Samsung Medical Center to improve treatment of liver cancer

Globavir announces partnership with Singhealth Duke-NUS Academic Medical Centre to study dengue treatment

Mundipharma secures exclusive license for the development and commercialisation of PAION’s remimazolam in Japan

Belt and Road Initiative: China helps Tajikistan tackle grassland degradation.

Gardasil 9 supply running short in Hong Kong.

New brain science center launched in Shanghai.

Haier Group invests in cell technology park in Chengyang, Qingdao.

Number of immuno-oncology trials in China surge by more than 50 per cent in 2016 and 2017.

Medical instrument developed in Guangzhou to culture stem cells automatically.

Tianjin University makes breakthrough in synthetic genome rearrangement.

New method Tild-CRISPR yield higher gene knock-in efficiency in mouse and human cells.

Artificial Intelligence: saving lives and securing the future.

The best pill for cancer patients: An exercise regime.

Across the divide: Multidisciplinary team to achieve better outcomes for breast cancer patients.

The state of cancer research in Asia.

Clinical utility of and access to cancer molecular diagnostics in Asia.

Reprogramming the immune system against cancer.