Trovagene and the PIO XII Foundation, affiliated with Brazil’s Barretos Cancer Hospital, entered a research collaboration to evaluate the performance of a urine-based molecular assay for detection of HPV types associated with cervical lesions. The goal of the study is to determine whether this assay can potentially replace Pap smears as the primary screen for cervical cancer risk in Brazil’s healthcare system. Barretos Cancer Hospital will conduct the study using Trovagene’s urine-based method for determining the presence of high risk HPV types, allowing for completely noninvasive HPV carrier screening.
In Brazil, cervical cancer is the second most frequent tumor type in women and the leading cause of cancer-related mortality in women 14 to 44 years of age. Brazil has placed special emphasis on programs to improve HPV screening.
“This study can pave the way to make HPV screening broadly available to medically underserved patients in our region,” said Adhemar Longatto Filho, Ph.D., the Laboratory of Medical Investigation at the University of Sao Paulo and principal investigator for the study at Barretos Cancer Hospital.
“Improved logistics, reduced costs, and increased compliance can significantly increase HPV screening rates and save lives,” said Antonius Schuh, Ph.D., CEO of Trovagene. “This collaboration with Barretos is another important step toward making Trovagene’s noninvasive HPV carrier screen available in key healthcare markets globally.”
The global Pap smear test market was valued at $28 million in 2011 and is expected to reach an estimated value of $31.4 million in 2018, according to a report published in 2012 by Transparency Market Research.