About this Research Topic
June 19 to 24 is the Cervical Screening Awareness Week and at Frontiers in Oncology we want to highlight the recent discoveries in the field and raise awareness of the importance of early diagnosis, multidisciplinary management, and technological innovation support.
Despite effective methods to both prevent and screen for cervical cancer, invasive cervical cancer (ICC) remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality globally. Indeed, ICC is the most common cause of cancer-related death in many low-and-middle-income countries (LMIC) including much of sub-Saharan Africa. Although the screening modalities vary among resource-abundant and resource-limited regions, the benefits of resource-relevant screening are clear. Notwithstanding, there are multiple individual and societal barriers to implementing cervical cancer screening - including limited health education and literacy, fatalism, fear, scarcity of services, and cost. These barriers have constrained widespread utilization even when such services are available. As such, patients often present with advanced disease at initial presentation and suffer poor health outcomes.
Given the multiple barriers to cervical cancer screening, alternate methods utilizing the existing healthcare infrastructure, need to be explored. Clinical services in LMICs are often funded and provided in a vertical fashion with the appropriate integration of relevant infrastructure. Because many health systems do not have a primary care model of service delivery, there has been increased recognition of the need to leverage and incorporate non-communicable disease (NCDs) care, including cancer care, within the existing routine services. The benefit of such integration has been demonstrated for certain NCDs, including hypertension and diabetes. However, despite the clinical burden, such an integrated approach has not been fully evaluated for the early detection of cervical cancer and precancer care treatment.
In a systematic review and meta-analysis of cervical cancer screening in SSA, researchers found that among the 29 studies conducted between 2000 and 2019, cervical cancer screening was performed in just under 13% of over 35,000 women included. Locally-relevant research on strategies to optimize the early detection of cervical cancer and precancer treatment are clearly necessary. For cervical cancer screening, the WHO recommends a ‘screen and treat’ approach using any of the available methods: visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA), cytology, and human papillomavirus (HPV) testing. Precancer treatment options include cryotherapy, thermal ablation, and large loop excision of the transformation zone (LLETZ). The selection of screening and treatment modalities are largely driven by resource availability.
We welcome Case Reports, Clinical Trials, Community Case Studies, General Commentary, Methods, Mini Reviews, Opinions, Original Research, Perspective, Review, and Systematic Reviews that describe research integrating cervical cancer screening and precancer treatment programs within other health programs (e.g. HIV care and treatment programs, family planning services).
Please note that manuscripts consisting solely of bioinformatics, computational analysis, or predictions of public databases which are not accompanied by validation (independent cohort or biological validation in vitro or in vivo) will not be accepted in any of the sections of Frontiers in Oncology.
Despite effective methods to both prevent and screen for cervical cancer, invasive cervical cancer (ICC) remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality globally. Indeed, ICC is the most common cause of cancer-related death in many low-and-middle-income countries (LMIC) including much of sub-Saharan Africa. Although the screening modalities vary among resource-abundant and resource-limited regions, the benefits of resource-relevant screening are clear. Notwithstanding, there are multiple individual and societal barriers to implementing cervical cancer screening - including limited health education and literacy, fatalism, fear, scarcity of services, and cost. These barriers have constrained widespread utilization even when such services are available. As such, patients often present with advanced disease at initial presentation and suffer poor health outcomes.
Given the multiple barriers to cervical cancer screening, alternate methods utilizing the existing healthcare infrastructure, need to be explored. Clinical services in LMICs are often funded and provided in a vertical fashion with the appropriate integration of relevant infrastructure. Because many health systems do not have a primary care model of service delivery, there has been increased recognition of the need to leverage and incorporate non-communicable disease (NCDs) care, including cancer care, within the existing routine services. The benefit of such integration has been demonstrated for certain NCDs, including hypertension and diabetes. However, despite the clinical burden, such an integrated approach has not been fully evaluated for the early detection of cervical cancer and precancer care treatment.
In a systematic review and meta-analysis of cervical cancer screening in SSA, researchers found that among the 29 studies conducted between 2000 and 2019, cervical cancer screening was performed in just under 13% of over 35,000 women included. Locally-relevant research on strategies to optimize the early detection of cervical cancer and precancer treatment are clearly necessary. For cervical cancer screening, the WHO recommends a ‘screen and treat’ approach using any of the available methods: visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA), cytology, and human papillomavirus (HPV) testing. Precancer treatment options include cryotherapy, thermal ablation, and large loop excision of the transformation zone (LLETZ). The selection of screening and treatment modalities are largely driven by resource availability.
We welcome Case Reports, Clinical Trials, Community Case Studies, General Commentary, Methods, Mini Reviews, Opinions, Original Research, Perspective, Review, and Systematic Reviews that describe research integrating cervical cancer screening and precancer treatment programs within other health programs (e.g. HIV care and treatment programs, family planning services).
Please note that manuscripts consisting solely of bioinformatics, computational analysis, or predictions of public databases which are not accompanied by validation (independent cohort or biological validation in vitro or in vivo) will not be accepted in any of the sections of Frontiers in Oncology.
Keywords: Cervical Cancer, Screening, precancer treatment, non-communicable diseases, care integration
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