Cervical cancer remains one of the leading causes of cancer mortality in women in developingnations. When stratified by race in United States, African American and Hispanic women have bothhigher incidence and mortality from cervical cancer than Caucasian women. These disparities are inpart due to access to healthcare and screening, but even after accounting for this, African Americanand Hispanic women continue to have higher mortality rates. This grant application describespotential biomarkers that may help begin to understand the differences in progression of thepreneoplastic stages of cervical cancer between African American, Hispanic, Caucasian women. Theidentification of such biomarkers will help determine the biological basis for the observed disparities inthe incidences as well as mortality of cervical cancer. In addition, these biomarkers will be useful toidentify, among the many women who present with Pap test abnormalities, the few that are at highrisk of developing cancer. This will allow for considerable reduction in morbidity as well as costsavings in Pap test follow-up procedures, at the same time providing better, more aggressive care tothose who truly need it.
The incidence of cervical cancer is 50% higher in African American women and 66% higher inHispanic women with mortality rates two-fold higher than what is found in Caucasian women. Thedisparities among races in part can be attributed to differences in screening and access to healthcare;but after controlling for these factors these disparities persist suggesting that there may be individualsusceptibilities to HPV infections. The overall goal of our research is to identify biomarkers that canhelp predict which women are at highest risk for developing cervical cancer; thus reducing the healthdisparities that exist for cervical cancer.
| Spiryda, Lisa Beth; Whitaker, Kara M; Messersmith, Amy et al. (2016) Clinical Utility of Molecular Biomarkers in Cervical Squamous Intraepithelial Lesions in a Young Adult Population. J Low Genit Tract Dis 20:26-30 |
| Spiryda, Lisa Beth; Brown, Mary; Creek, Kim E et al. (2009) HSIL pap test and risk factors predicting acquisition of CIN 2/3 on colposcopy-directed biopsies. J S C Med Assoc 105:281-6 |
