New technology allows menstrual pads to screen for cervical cancer

CTV News

16 hours ago

(CT Murphy has been exploring the use of nanomaterials in menstrual pads to non-invasively detect human papillomavirus (HPV), a leading cause of cervical cancer. Image courtsey: CELLECT Laboratories Inc.)
Innovative new technology could soon mean that screening for cervical cancer won't be as uncomfortable as a Pap test, according to two Waterloo, Ont., researchers.
CELLECT Laboratories co-founders CT Murphy and Ibukun Elebute have been exploring the use of nanomaterials in menstrual pads to non-invasively detect human papillomavirus (HPV), a leading cause of cervical cancer.
Murphy says her first experience with a Pap test prompted her to create this innovation as a final-year project studying nanotechnology at the University of Waterloo (uWaterloo).
'They are one of the most uncomfortable and archaic experiences I've ever had in the medical industry,' Murphy told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview.
'I was really taken aback with how little pain management there was.'
Murphy later partnered with Elebute, a fellow uWaterloo alum with a background in biomedical and mechanical engineering, as well as business, to found CELLECT Laboratories Inc.
Ibukun Elebute and CT Murphy.
(Ibukun Elebute and CT Murphy. Image courtsey: CELLECT Laboratories Inc.)
In the last two years, their nanomaterials research has won over $150,000 in funding at pitch competitions worldwide.
'I think it's been a very recent advent of people actually looking into women's health and realizing what a massive disparity there is,' Murphy said.
'Women are desperate for proper health care that is made for them, by them and that they can trust (…) this technology is not only wanted, but desperately needed.'
'It's clear that we are not building in isolation,' said Elebute. 'We're standing on the shoulders of a growing community that's pushing for real change in women's health, and that makes all the difference.'
Cervical cancer screening in Canada
Murphy says that modernization could help address low screening rates for cervical cancer – as it's one of the reasons contributing to what the Canadian Cancer Society calls the fastest increasing cancer in women.
'(Women's) lives are at stake because of certain social stigmas surrounding one of the main diagnostic techniques for cervical cancer,' Murphy said.
'I think innovating in a way that makes (screening) more inviting and easier to use will mean a genuine improvement in not only quality of life, but the chances of survival for tons of women who are affected by HPV and cervical cancer every single day.'
The incidence rate of cervical cancer has risen 3.7 per cent per year since 2015, the first significant increase since 1984 and a 'concerning' trend that a recent Canadian Medical Association Journal report notes is largely preventable.
'Not even optimally using technology'
In Canada, several initiatives have already been introduced to address the rise in cervical cancer, including increased awareness of HPV vaccination and a shift to HPV testing rather than Pap or cytology tests.
HPV testing requires less frequent screening and targets the high-risk types of HPV that lead to cervical cancer.
Ontario, British Columbia, P.E.I. and Northwest Territories have all transitioned from Pap tests to HPV testing, and Quebec is offering the service in some regions, with plans to fully adopt it province-wide.
B.C. is the first to offer at-home self-testing covered by the province, an option expected to be available in Ontario and New Brunswick in the future.
All other provinces are in various stages of making the switch.
Dr. Anna Wilkinson, a family physician and oncologist at The Ottawa Hospital, says the transition has been slow to come, nationally.
Despite a decade data showing it to be more effective than cytology, federal screening guidelines recommend against HPV testing.
Dr. Wilkinson says those guidelines are 12 years out of date.
'We're not even optimally using technology that's already proven and known,' she told CTVNews.ca.
'Cervical cancer is almost entirely preventable, yet each year in Canada, many women die from it or undergo difficult treatments with lifelong side effects. We must modernize our national guidelines to include HPV vaccination, HPV cervical screening and self-screening, so that cervical cancer can be eradicated in Canada.'
Current initiatives don't address all issues
While Murphy and Elebute acknowledge the importance of recent modernization initiatives, they say the current self-testing model does not fully address the issues they aim to tackle.
HPV testing kits may still trigger the same discomfort and stigma as Pap tests, Murphy notes, especially for survivors of sexual abuse, or those experiencing gender dysphoria.
'The swab simply does not alleviate the correct pain points,' she said. 'We are providing a noninvasive and familiar alternative that will incentivize those who do not seek out Pap smears to get tested for HPV.'
That said, abnormal test results may still necessitate more invasive screening, such as a colposcopy or biopsy.
'Depending on what you have or what you want to look for, you might need to have one of those uncomfortable exams,' said Dr. Amanda Selk, an obstetrician gynecologist at Women's College Hospital in Toronto, in an interview.
'If you actually do have a high-risk HPV strain, then you have to have an exam with a speculum where we look at your cervix with a microscope to see if there's any pre-cancer happening there.'
Coexisting in the current landscape
With their prototype three years into testing and soon to move on to clinical trials, Murphy and Elebute say their intention is not to replace current models, but to coexist alongside existing lab workflows.
'Our goal is to enhance what's already available by making high-quality sample collection more accessible, comfortable and compatible with the realities of people's lives,' Elebute said.
'When we think about the future, we see CELLECT as a powerful complement to existing self-testing tools - expanding access, improving user experience and ultimately helping more people get screened earlier and more reliably.'
In addition to screening for HPV and cervical cancer, Elebute says menstrual blood could be used as a diagnostic tool for other female reproductive conditions, transforming women's health care.
'We see different fluids used (in health care): blood, urine, stool; and you begin to wonder why the one thing that we're able to collect pretty much every month is not being used,' Elebute said.
'It's almost like a gold mine that we need to use to catch up on all the years we've fallen behind in women's health.'