Demonstrating a new method to prevent cervical cancer in Zambia

To mark Cervical Cancer Awareness Month, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) is highlighting research projects to tackle the global burden of this cancer type. Scientists from IARC have been working for more than 5 years with Professor Groesbeck Parham and his team in Zambia to develop and demonstrate a revolutionary new method to prevent cervical cancer. This new method uses a handheld battery-operated device to destroy precancerous cells before they have a chance to develop into cancer.

Crucially, this device, known as a thermal ablator, does not require mains electricity or expensive and unwieldy gas canisters to operate. This makes it an ideal tool for use in settings where resources are limited, such as in low- and middle-income countries, where about 90% of global deaths from cervical cancer occur.

In a small-scale randomized trial, the thermal ablator was found to be as effective as current standard-of-care treatment options. However, a trial with more patients is needed to fully demonstrate and prove the device’s game-changing capability. The study team found themselves in a challenging situation: in 2019, they had started a larger-scale trial to obtain sufficient evidence to validate the earlier results, but this research was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Delays and unforeseen costs meant that the study’s funding had run out before enough data had been collected.

The team continued with field services in Zambia by transferring IARC funds that had been budgeted for travel, meetings, and other activities that had been curtailed by the pandemic. However, this financing was not adequate to run the project beyond December 2021. Without additional funding, the study would not be able to recruit and follow up enough women to provide the data needed to prove the efficacy of the thermal ablator, and all the effort and resources invested over the previous 5 years would have been for nothing.

The scientists’ perseverance was rewarded in mid-December 2021, when the United States National Cancer Institute committed to continuing its support for this study. This demonstrates, once again, the importance of international cooperation in cancer research, and gives the researchers the chance to fully prove the worth of the thermal ablator.

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Visit the Cervical Cancer Awareness Month 2022 webpage