HPV self-collection in Mongolia, DNA methylation for detecting uterine cancer, and automated Antibiotic Susceptibility Testing with Radian: read the three studies we selected in this edition.

• The high prevalence of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) in the country makes cervical cancer the third most common tumor among women in Mongolia. The study by Batmunkh and colleagues evaluated the acceptance of self-sampling for HPV detection among young Mongolian women and assessed their knowledge about HPV and cervical cancer. Enrolling more than 200 women, the researchers showed that 95.1% found the self-sampling easy to perform, 98.5% found the instructions clear, and 94.1% experienced no pain. However, 67.8% preferred to perform the self-sampling in a clinic rather than at home. Despite the high acceptance of self-sampling, the participants displayed low knowledge about HPV and moderate knowledge about cervical cancer, urging the need for enhanced educational efforts about HPV and cervical cancer in Mongolia.
• Endometrial cancer EC is the most common gynecological cancer in high-income countries, with a rapidly increasing incidence. In the second study we selected, the British researchers demonstrated that the DNA methylation-based women’s cancer risk identification – quantitative polymerase chain reaction test for endometrial cancer (WID-qEC) test’s stability is consistent regardless of the collection device and sample media used, whether the specimen is collected by a gynecologist or the patient, and the precise sampling site. The test shows sample stability in eNAT medium for seven days at room temperature, facilitating integration into diagnostic workflows. Using FLOQSwabs and eNAT sample collection media, the test’s sensitivity and specificity for detecting uterine cancers in gynecologist-taken samples are 92.9% and 98.6%, respectively, while in patient self-samples, sensitivity and specificity are 75.0% and 100.0%, respectively. These findings confirm the robustness and clinical potential of the WID-qEC test.
• The third study, published in Current Microbiology, evaluated Radian® against manual disk diffusion using EUCAST 2021 breakpoints. Kim Callebaut and colleagues tested 135 bacterial strains from various sources, including Enterobacterales, Enterococcus faecalis, Enterococcus faecium, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, coagulase-negative staphylococci, and Streptococcus spp. Radian® showed categorical agreement rates of 95.3% to 98.0% across different bacterial groups, with major error rates of ≤ 5% for all antibiotics. Additionally, antibiotic disk thermostability was confirmed for up to 4 days in the Radian® Carousel. Thus, the Radian® In-Line Carousel offers a fully automated, accurate, and standardized solution for disk diffusion AST, reducing workload and improving traceability.

Read the full studies: