Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1999. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
PRNewswire - November 26, 1999
Every year in the United States, approximately 15,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and 5,000 women die of the disease. Worldwide, cervical cancer affects 500,000 women annually, and after breast cancer, is the second most common malignancy found in women.
"These data (from the article by Wallin et al., "Type-Specific Persistence of Human Papillomavirus DNA Before the Development of Invasive Cervical Cancer" in November 25 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine) reinforce the fact that cytologic screening for precursor lesions of cervical cancer is imperfect," stated Robert D. Burk, M.D. in his editorial.
"Screening for HPV will detect prevalent infection and identify the women with a persistent type-specific infection who are likely to be at high risk for continued persistence of HPV and cervical cancer. The detection of persistent infection in older women should be even more useful as a method of identifying women with high-grade cervical neoplasia." Dr. Burk is Professor of the Comprehensive Cancer Research Center at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Bronx, New York.
The Digene Hybrid Capture HPV test is FDA-approved to detect the 13 key cancer-causing types of HPV. These high-risk types have been detected in 99.7% of cases of cervical cancer, confirming that high-risk HPV must be present for cervical cancer to develop. There are over 70 types of HPV, one of the most common sexually transmitted infections. Of these 70 types, 23 affect the genital tract but only 13 key types cause cervical cancer.
Dr. Attila Lorincz, Vice President, Research and Scientific Director of Digene Corporation commented, "The paper by Wallin et al. and Dr. Burk's editorial reinforce the significant, scientific evidence that has been published on the causal association between HPV and cervical cancer, and further contributes to the scientific validation regarding the important role HPV testing should play in the screening and management of women with persistent HPV infection. No woman should die of this preventable disease."
Digene Corporation, based in Beltsville, Maryland, develops, manufactures and markets DNA and RNA tests for the detection, screening and monitoring of human diseases. Digene's products are designed to help improve clinical outcomes and reduce the overall cost of disease management. Digene's lead product, the Hybrid Capture(R) II HPV test, aids physicians in identifying women who are most at risk of having or developing cervical disease and cervical cancer. The Digene HPV test is used in the U.S. as an adjunct to the Pap smear for cervical cancer screening and is being marketed in selected countries as a primary cervical cancer screen either in conjunction with or separate from the Pap smear. Visit Digene's website at http://www.digene.com.
SOURCE Digene Corporation
CONTACT: Kelley Mullaney of Burson-Marstellar, 202-530-4628, for Digene Corporation/
Web Site: http://www.digene.com/
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