New HIV drug formulation could improve treatment outcomes for children worldwide

Worldwide CU Anschutz researchers helped evaluate a new drug formulation for children with HIV

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO ANSCHUTZ MEDICAL CAMPUS

Researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus have helped confirm the dosing, safety and effectiveness of a drug formulation designed for treating children with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

The study was published today in The Lancet HIV and reveals a new dispersible formulation and an immediate-release tablet containing three medications - dolutegravir, abacavir and lamivudine - in a single fixed dose combination (FDC) formulation is safe, well tolerated, and effective for treating children with HIV. The dosing based on the concentrations of each medication in the blood was also appropriate.

“This is the first FDC containing dolutegravir that can be used for children from 13 to 88 pounds,” said Kristina Brooks, PharmD, an assistant professor in the University of Colorado Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at CU Anschutz. “HIV treatment in children has historically been challenging as it requires the use of multiple tablets and liquids that don’t always taste the best, and can be challenging to administer.”

Dolutegravir, abacavir and lamivudine have been shown to be safe and effective worldwide to treat HIV. Brooks and Jennifer Kiser, PharmD, PhD, worked with a team of investigators through the International Maternal Pediatric Adolescent AIDS Clinical Trials (IMPAACT) Network to look at both an existing immediate release tablet and a new formulation of dispersible release tablets containing all three drugs to see if it would yield the same positive results they have seen in adults and adolescents.

“57 children were enrolled across five weight bands in four countries, of which 54 children used the new combination over 24 weeks. In 98 percent of the participants who continued the study drug, the amount of HIV in the blood remained suppressed below 200 copies/mL at week 24. The safety, tolerability, and effectiveness of these formulations look very positive,” Brooks said.

Child-friendly FDC formulations for HIV are limited. Brooks said this new formulation could help enable continuity of treatment, improve treatment outcomes and make it easier for caregivers responsible for dispensing the drugs. This study also helped support recent labeling updates by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to expand the use of this formulation to children aged at least 3 months and weighing at least 13 pounds.

There are currently two million children living with HIV across the globe. Only 52 percent are on therapy, and despite making up only four percent of the worldwide HIV population, children account for 15 percent of AIDS-related deaths. Studies like this are vital to improve these outcomes and to make medication more accessible around the world.

“We must continue to pursue child-friendly treatment options to overcome the current global disparity in treatment outcomes between children and adults,” Brooks said.

Some of the children who were in the initial trial are still on the new drug formulation through an open access program. The longer-term safety, tolerability, and effectiveness through 12 months of treatment is under analysis now and will be reported separately.

About the IMPAACT Network

Overall support for the International Maternal Pediatric Adolescent AIDS Clinical Trials Network (IMPAACT) was provided by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) with co-funding from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), all components of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), under Award Numbers UM1AI068632-15 (IMPAACT LOC), UM1AI068616-15 (IMPAACT SDMC) and UM1AI106716-15 (IMPAACT LC), and by NICHD contract number HHSN275201800001I. Additional funding support and study product was provided by ViiV Healthcare. 

About the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus is a world-class medical destination at the forefront of transformative science, medicine, education and patient care. The campus encompasses the University of Colorado health professional schools, more than 60 centers and institutes, and two nationally ranked independent hospitals - UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital and Children's Hospital Colorado - that treat more than two million adult and pediatric patients each year. Innovative, interconnected and highly collaborative, the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus delivers life-changing treatments, patient care and professional training and conducts world-renowned research fueled by over $690 million in research grants. For more information, visit www.cuanschutz.edu.

---

JOURNAL

The Lancet HIV

 

People with a hepatitis C cure still face substantial risk of death

Findings highlight importance of ongoing post-cure support

Peer-Reviewed Publication

BMJ

Individuals who have been cured of hepatitis C infection still face a substantially greater risk of death compared with the general population - between 3 and 14 times higher depending on liver disease stage, finds the largest study of its kind published by The BMJ today.

Based on data from more than 20,000 patients with a hepatitis C cure, the results show that drug and liver-related causes of death were the main drivers of excess deaths - and highlight the importance of continued support to fully realise the benefits of a hepatitis C cure.

Hepatitis C is a virus that can infect the liver which, if left untreated, can cause serious and potentially life-threatening liver damage over many years.

Historically, hepatitis C was treated with interferon-based therapy, which was often ineffective. But in 2011, new medications called direct acting antivirals (DAA) were developed. Now more than 95% of patients treated with DAAs achieve a “virological cure” and have a significantly lower risk of death than untreated patients.

Yet the question of what prognosis cured patients can expect compared with the general population remains the subject of debate.

To explore this further, a team of UK and Canadian researchers set out to measure mortality rates in individuals with a hepatitis C cure and assess how these rates compare with the general population.

They analysed data from three population studies carried out in British Columbia (Canada), Scotland and England involving 21,790 individuals who achieved a hepatitis C cure between 2014 and 2019. 

Individuals were grouped by the severity of liver disease at the time of cure: pre-cirrhosis (British Columbia and Scotland studies only), compensated cirrhosis, and end stage liver disease.

Data were then linked to national medical registries and several causes of death were examined, including liver cancer, liver failure, drug-related death, external causes (mainly accidents, homicides and suicides) and diseases of the circulatory system, over an average follow-up period of 2-4 years.

Most participants did not have cirrhosis at cure. The average age of pre-cirrhosis patients in Scotland was 44 years and 56 years in British Columbia, and males outnumbered females across all studies and disease severity groups (65-75%). 

A total of 1,572 (7%) of participants died during follow-up. The leading causes of death were drug related (24%), liver failure (18%) and liver cancer (16%). 

After taking account of age, death rates were considerably higher than the general population across all disease severity groups and settings. 

For example, in Scotland, the rate for all patients was 4.5 times greater than the general population (442 deaths observed versus 98 expected), while in British Columbia, rates were 3.9 times greater (821 deaths observed versus 209 expected). 

Rates also increased appreciably with liver disease severity. For example, in British Columbia rates were 3 times higher in people without cirrhosis and 14 times higher for patients with end stage liver disease.

For patients without cirrhosis, the leading cause of excess death was drug related, whereas in patients with cirrhosis, the two leading drivers were liver cancer and liver failure.

Across all disease stages and settings, older age, recent substance use, alcohol use and pre-existing conditions (comorbidities) were associated with higher death rates.

These are observational findings and the researchers acknowledge that they may not apply to all settings, particularly where injecting drug use is not the dominant mode of hepatitis C transmission.

However, this is the largest and most representative study performed to date and the researchers say their results “show unequivocally that cured patients continue to face substantial mortality rates, driven by liver and drug-related causes.”

As such, they highlight the importance of establishing robust post-cure follow-up pathways, as well as services and interventions to prevent drug and alcohol-related harms, to fully realise the benefits of a hepatitis C cure.

[Ends] 

---

JOURNAL

The BMJ

DOI

10.1136/bmj-2023-074001 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Mortality rates among patients achieving a hepatitis C cure in the interferon-free treatment era: population based cohort study

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

2-Aug-2023

COI STATEMENT

All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form at www.icmje.org/disclosure-of-interest/ and declare: support from the Medical Research Foundation for the submitted work; the following financial relationships, which might have an interest in the submitted work in the previous three years: STB has received consulting fees and/or honorariums from Falk, Gilead, Abbvie, and Intercept; AB has received honorariums from Gilead Sciences; HT has received honorariums from Abbvie, Gilead Sciences, Eisai, Terumo, and Fujifilm WAKO; NZJ has received honorariums from Gilead and Abbvie; PCH has received honorariums from Falk, Ferring, Gore, Lundbeck, and Norgine; he has participated on advisory boards for Abbvie BMS, Eisai, Ferring, Gilead, Janssen, MSD, Novartis, and ONO; WLI has received research funding from Gilead Sciences and Jansen-Cilag and consulting fees/honorariums from Gilead Sciences and Roche Diagnostics; SB has received grants/contracts from Gilead Sciences and consulting fees/honorariums from Abbvie, Gilead Sciences; JFD has received honorariums from Gilead Sciences, Abbvie, and MSD; KA has received honorariums and/or consulting fees from Aligos, Assembly, Arbutus, BMS, BI, Bluejay, Gilead, GSK, Janssen, Roche, Saigmet, and Sobil; he has participated on the advisory board for DrugFarm; MA has received honorariums from Gilead Sciences; EB has consulted for Roche, Astrazeneca, and Vaccitech; she has received honorariums for education events and manuscript writing with Roche, and has patents relating to vaccines against hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and liver imaging; she owns shares in Perspectum diagnostics in liver imaging. No other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work.

 

Researchers are using monkey poop to learn how an endangered species chooses its mates

Using DNA extracted from fecal samples, researchers at UW–Madison and the University of Texas at Austin are better able to understand the reproductive patterns of the endangered northern muriqui.

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON

 

IMAGE: A NORTHERN MURIQUIS SITS ON A BRANCH IN THE SUNLIGHT. STRIER AND HER TEAM HAVE SPENT YEARS DOCUMENTING THE UNIQUE COLORINGS AND PATTERNS OF THE MONKEYS’ FACES TO BE ABLE TO IDENTIFY EACH INDIVIDUAL. view more 

CREDIT: CARLA POSSAMAI

Northern muriquis, which live in the Atlantic forest of Brazil, are one of the most endangered species of monkey in the world. Choosing good mates and rearing thriving offspring are key to the species’ long-term survival.

To better understand what goes on in the mating lives of muriquis, researchers at the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Wisconsin–Madison turned to the monkeys’ poop to help gain insight into how the primates choose their mates.

In a paper published on Aug. 2 in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the scientists combined genetic analysis with long-term behavioral observations to better understand the reproductive patterns of the endangered muriqui.

Unlike most primates, muriquis live in peaceful, egalitarian societies, the core of which is made up of related males and their mothers. Karen Strier, a professor of anthropology at UW–Madison and co-author of the paper, has spent 40 years studying the behavior and ecology of these monkeys in a small, preserved portion of Brazilian forest. She and her team know how to identify each individual monkey and who they are related to. It also means she knows how to tell whose poop is whose.

She and her team collected samples and provided them to Anthony Di Fiore, a professor of anthropology and director of the Primate Molecular Ecology and Evolution Lab at UT Austin, and Paulo Chaves, then Di Fiore’s graduate student. They used the fecal samples (among the best non-invasive samples they could collect) as a source of DNA to analyze the muriquis’ mating behavior through genetic data.

Because Strier’s field crew knew which sample belonged to whom, the research team was able to ask unique genetic questions.

“I knew from behavioral observations that there was lack of competition in mating and that mothers didn't mate with their sons or close male relatives. But the only way to know who the fathers are is with genetics,” Strier says.

From their lab analysis, Chaves and Di Fiore confirmed that there were no mother-son pairings, which suggests the muriquis may recognize their kin, allowing them to avoid incestuous mating. They also found that females tend to reproduce with males who have a more diverse set of genes coding for molecules that play an important role in the body’s immune response to pathogens and other environmental stressors.

This interesting class of genes is called the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), and Chaves and Di Fiore were able to characterize genetic variation between individual monkeys.

“Our finding that male sires have higher MHC diversity than expected by chance is one of the things we would expect if that diversity contributes to male fitness or is one of the dimensions of female mate choice," Di Fiore says.

Male fitness, in this case, refers to the ability of a male mate to provide offspring with genes that will give them the best chance at survival. Having diversity in their MHC genes may also give offspring more protection against pathogens and environmental stressors, which is evolutionarily advantageous, Strier explains. Theoretically then, a female should choose males that not only have high MHC diversity, but that also have MHC genes different from hers.

However, the genetic analysis showed that while females seem to choose mates with higher MHC diversity overall, they weren’t necessarily choosing males with genetic variants different from their own.

“Our study is one of just a handful that have looked at the relationship between MHC variation and reproductive patterns in wild primates and is the only to do so for an egalitarian species like muriquis,” Di Fiore says.

Strier says the partnership with Di Fiore and Chaves was exciting and adds strength to support her observations. Their findings also raised a number of questions the researchers hope to follow up on in future collaborations.

Chaves, lead author of the study, came to the U.S. to study molecular genetics with Di Fiore on a prestigious fellowship from the Brazilian government. After completing his lab work, Chaves returned to Brazil and secured a civil service position as a forensic geneticist with the government of the state of Goiás.

Next, the team hopes to investigate what other factors besides MHC diversity might influence muriqui mate choice by both males and females and give offspring the best chance at survival.

A group of northern muriquis sit together in a tree. The peaceful egalitarian structure of northern muriquis groups makes them different from many other groups of primates which tend to see more violence.

CREDIT

Carla Possamai

Karen Strier of the University of Wisconsin–Madison during fieldwork in Brazil.

CREDIT

João Marcos Rosa

Anthony Di Fiore of the University of Texas at Austin during fieldwork in Brazil.

Lead author Paulo Chaves with Anthony Di Fiore at one of Chaves’ poster presentations on past work with the muriquis.

CREDIT

Anthony Di Fiore

---

JOURNAL

Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences

DOI

10.1098/rspb.2023.1035 

ARTICLE TITLE

Paternity data reveal high MHC diversity among sires in a polygynandrous, egalitarian primate

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

2-Aug-2023

 

Canadian paleontologists discover microvertebrate faunal assemblages in Manitoba, Canada

Peer-Reviewed Publication

PEERJ

 

IMAGE: ACTINOPTERYGIAN AND CHONDRICHTHYAN TEETH AND JAW ELEMENTS COLLECTED FROM THE LAURIER LIMESTONE BEDS, KELD MEMBER, BY ACID DIGESTION AND FOSSIL SORTING (A–E), AND SURFACE PROSPECTING (F–I). view more 

CREDIT: ACTINOPTERYGIAN AND CHONDRICHTHYAN TEETH AND JAW ELEMENTS COLLECTED FROM THE LAURIER LIMESTONE BEDS, KELD MEMBER, BY ACID DIGESTION AND FOSSIL SORTING (A–E), AND SURFACE PROSPECTING (F–I).

Canadian vertebrate palaeontologist, Aaron Kilmury, and a team of researchers from the University of Manitoba have published new research in PeerJ Life and Environment, unveiling the first-ever formal description of microvertebrate fossil assemblages from the late Cenomanian to middle Turonian periods in Manitoba, Canada.

“One of the most significant findings of this study is that the new microvertebrate material described from Manitoba shares several similarities with microvertebrate assemblages collected from other fossil localities of similar age located in central North America” said Aaron Kilmury, a graduate student at Manitoba. 

The research, titled "Microvertebrate Faunal Assemblages of the Favel Formation (late Cenomanian-middle Turonian) of Manitoba, Canada," presents a detailed analysis of thousands of small-bodied fossils extracted from rock samples collected in southwestern Manitoba. Among the findings are numerous fossil remains of fish, sharks, birds, and reptiles, including species of extinct sawfishes, guitarfish, and several yet-to-be-identified species due to incomplete preservation.

The study highlights a fascinating connection between the microvertebrate assemblages in Manitoba and those discovered in other fossil localities of similar age in central North America, specifically South Dakota and Kansas. This remarkable resemblance supports the existence of a three-part vertebrate community zonation for the Late Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway, a pivotal marine environment, during the early to middle Turonian time period. This new insight suggests that during periods of extreme heat, marine communities experienced significant fragmentation and geographic range restrictions, contributing to a complex ecosystem structure. 

“Presenting fossil data from Manitoba in this case is significant because Manitoba hosts several historically underrepresented Cretaceous fossil localities which host a wealth of valuable fossil data capable of significantly increasing our understanding of marine biodiversity and biogeography of the Western Interior Seaway,” said Kilmury. 

The research was made possible by the generosity of the landowners, who granted access to the fossil sites, and Wayne Buckley and Brian Scott, who provided tours of the fossil sites and made invaluable contributions to museum collections.

“I am especially glad this research is Open Access and will be available to anyone interested in learning more about the fascinating ancient life history of Manitoba and North America,” said Kilmury. 

 

---

JOURNAL

PeerJ

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

Microvertebrate faunal assemblages of the Favel Formation (late Cenomanian-middle Turonian) of Manitoba, Canada

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

3-Aug-2023

Women and men react differently to strain and stress

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF WÜRZBURG

 

IMAGE: PROF. DR. GRIT HEIN view more 

CREDIT: UNIVERSITY OF WUERZBURG

Does anyone still remember the initial phase of the Corona pandemic in 2020? When shops, restaurants, cinemas, and theatres remained closed. When meetings with friends and relatives were prohibited. When school lessons had to take place at home in the children’s rooms. When there was no question of traveling.

Presently, most people seem to have long forgotten these times. Yet, the various corona measures taken by politicians are likely to have caused enormous stress for many. The fear for the job, the worry about sick relatives, the nervous strain when parents and children sit together in a small apartment and have to reconcile home office and homeschooling: All this has not remained without effects, as numerous studies show.

The crucial factor is anxiety

How and to what extent have these experiences affected the mental health and quality of life of women and men in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic? This has been investigated by a research team of the University and the University Hospital Würzburg. In detail, the scientists were interested in the relationship between worries about the workplace and about other people with a person’s own mental health problems such as anxiety and depression and with their quality of life in general, how these are influenced by the support from friends or at work – and whether the results show differences between men and women.

The findings are unambiguous: in this complex of different variables and influencing factors, anxiety plays a central part. There are, however, distinct gender-specific differences: "In men, anxiety increases along with concerns about the job, an effect which does not show in women. On the other hand, we were able to register an increase in anxiety levels in women parallel to an increase in their worries about family and friends," says Grit Hein. In addition, the study shows that women in such times respond positively to support from friends and family by experiencing enhanced quality of life. In men, this phenomenon did not manifest itself.

Data on the influence of gender were lacking

Grit Hein is Professor of Translational Social Neuroscience at the Clinic and Polyclinic for Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy at the University Hospital. She and her postdoc Martin Weiß led the study, the results of which have now been published in the journal Scientific Reports.

"In the past, numerous studies have investigated the influence of psychosocial factors such as support from friends and colleagues and financial, professional or personal worries on mental health and the quality of life. Yet, data on whether these correlations are the same for men and women were lacking," says Grit Hein, explaining the background to the study. Broadening earlier studies, the Würzburg research team has therefore now examined the influence of these factors in relation to gender.

A study with around 2,900 participants

The team obtained the relevant information from a large group of test subjects: the participants of the so-called STAAB study. This study comprises a cohort of around 5,000 randomly selected volunteers from the general population of Würzburg and originally focused on the development of cardiovascular diseases. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the program was spontaneously expanded to include the psychosocial impacts of the pandemic, the lockdown, and other side effects.

A total of 2,890 people (1,520 women and 1,370 men) took part in the survey. Their ages ranged from 34 to 85 years, with a median of 60 years. Between June and October 2020, they had to fill out an extensive questionnaire about their mental health. Among other things, they were asked to provide information about how strongly they felt supported by their social environment, their colleagues and superiors, and whether they had someone with whom they could discuss their problems. They were also asked to what extent bans on the contact with parents and grandparents burdened them and how much stress they felt at work or at school. Financial problems or worries about them were the subject of further questions.

To evaluate the data, Hein and her team used a special method: the so-called network analysis. "Analyses based on a network approach enable a graphical representation of all variables as individual nodes," Hein explains. Thus, it is possible to identify variables that are particularly related to other variables. The network can, for example, show complex relationships between symptoms of different mental disorders and thus explain possible comorbidities.

Results fit traditional gender norms

Grit Hein and Martin Weiß were hardly surprised by the results. "The observation that men are more strongly associated with work and women more strongly with family and friends can be traced back to traditional gender norms and roles," Hein explains. Hence, men usually feel more affected by job insecurity and unemployment, which leads to higher psychological stress. Women, on the other hand, experience more strain when they feel that they are neglecting their family.

It is also plausible that women cope better psychologically when they receive support from friends and family: "This is in line with the traditional female family role, which includes a stronger tendency to maintain close social contacts and to seek social support in order to reduce stress and increase well-being," says Hein.

Even though these findings are unambiguous, the study leaders point to a number of limitations. The most important: "Since the COVID-19 pandemic presented a very specific context, it remains to be clarified whether our results are transferable to general pandemic-independent situations." One finding, however, is indisputable: "Our results underline the need to consider social aspects in therapeutic interventions in order to improve the mental health of women and men."

---

JOURNAL

Scientific Reports

DOI

10.1038/s41598-023-38525-8 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Survey

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Differential network interactions between psychosocial factors, mental health, and health-related quality of life in women and men

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

31-Jul-2023

COI STATEMENT

Jürgen Deckert is Investigator in an EU-grant to P1Vital and corecipient of a grant of the Bavarian Secretary of Commerce to BioVariance. The remaining authors declare that they have no competing interests.

 

62 percent of young Thai women put off by pap smears | BGI Insight

61.6% of Thai women aged 21-25 years deterred by pap smears ranking second globally and is higher than the global average of 43.5%

Reports and Proceedings

BGI GENOMICS

 

IMAGE: BGI GENOMICS GLOBAL 2023 STATE OF CERVICAL CANCER AWARENESS REPORT view more 

CREDIT: BGI GENOMICS

Only 28.5% of Thai women are diagnosed at stage I of cervical cancer when survival rates are highest, according to a study published by the Mahidol University. To further motivate action to combat cervical cancer, BGI Genomics released its State of Cervical Cancer Awareness Report in Thailand. This report assesses the level of knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to cervical cancer screening and HPV vaccination to highlight the associated barriers and opportunities. 1,878 female respondents from six countries and regions were surveyed: Brazil, the Chinese mainland, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Thailand, and Uruguay.

18.8% of Thai women never had a screening test which leads the six countries in this study, far lower than the global average of 32.1%. Yet, 61.6% of young Thai women aged 21 to 25 years old are deterred by meeting a male doctor performing a pap smear, ranking second globally. Therefore, there is an urgent need to offer HPV DNA tests to women, especially young women, in addition to pap smear tests. 

Other key takeaways from the report include:

HPV awareness affects cervical cancer screening rates: Among women who are unaware cervical cancer is often caused by HPV, 39.1% of them never undertaken cervical cancer screening which is higher than the global average of 31.2%.

Vaccination and screening form a virtuous cycle: For women who had the HPV vaccine, 82.1% had a cervical cancer screening, significantly higher than 60.6% of unvaccinated women. For women who had undergone screening, 45.8% received the HPV vaccine, which is higher relative to 22.1% of unscreened women. Informing women who missed national vaccination programs about where and when they could get vaccinated and screened is vital.

"Early cervical cancer detection is vital to save lives and eventually eliminate this dreaded disease in line with WHO's global strategy," said Zhang Lin, BGI Genomics Senior Product Manager. "This study shows increased awareness of women could be the missing link to boost vaccination and screening rates further."

To read and view country or region-level comparisons, please see link to access the full BGI Genomics State of Cervical Cancer Awareness Report 2023.

CREDIT

BGI Genomics

56 percent of Saudi Arabian women never had a cervical cancer screening test | BGI Insight

55.8% of Saudi Arabian women never had a screening test, higher than the global average of 31.2%

Reports and Proceedings

BGI GENOMICS

 

IMAGE: BGI GENOMICS GLOBAL 2023 STATE OF CERVICAL CANCER AWARENESS REPORT view more 

CREDIT: BGI GENOMICS

Only 19% of Saudi Arabian women are diagnosed at stage I of cervical cancer where survival rates are highest, according to a study published by the King Abdulaziz University. To further motivate action to combat cervical cancer, BGI Genomics today released its State of Cervical Cancer Awareness Report in Saudi Arabia. This report assesses the level of knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to cervical cancer screening and HPV vaccination. By examining these key areas, this survey seeks to highlight the associated barriers and opportunities. 1,878 female respondents from six countries and regions were surveyed: Brazil, the Chinese mainland, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Thailand, and Uruguay.

55.8% of Saudi Arabian women never had a screening test, higher than the global average of 31.2%. In addition, 64.1% of young Saudi Arabian women aged 21 to 25 years old are deterred by meeting a male doctor performing a pap smear. This ranks first among the six countries in this study in both categories. Therefore, there is an urgent need to offer HPV DNA tests to women, especially young women, in addition to pap smear tests. 

Other key takeaways from the report include:

HPV awareness affects cervical cancer screening rates: Among women who are unaware cervical cancer is often caused by HPV, 39.1% of them never undertaken cervical cancer screening which is higher than the global average of 31.2%.

Vaccination and screening form a virtuous cycle: For women who had the HPV vaccine, 82.1% had a cervical cancer screening, significantly higher than 60.6% of unvaccinated women. For women who had undergone screening, 45.8% received the HPV vaccine, which is higher relative to 22.1% of unscreened women. Informing women who missed national vaccination programs about where and when they could get vaccinated and screened is vital.

"Early cervical cancer detection is vital to save lives and eventually eliminate this dreaded disease in line with WHO's global strategy," said Zhang Lin, BGI Genomics Senior Product Manager. "This study shows increased awareness of women could be the missing link to boost vaccination and screening rates further."

To read and view country or region-level comparisons, please see link to access the full BGI Genomics State of Cervical Cancer Awareness Report 2023.

About BGI Genomics

BGI Genomics, headquartered in Shenzhen, China, is the world's leading integrated solutions provider of precision medicine. In July 2017, as a subsidiary of BGI Group, BGI Genomics (300676.SZ) was officially listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

The CE-certified SENTIS™ HPV test combines self-sampling technology and genotyping assay to detect 14 most important, "high-risk" types of HPV, including HPV -16, 18, 31, 33, 35, 39, 45, 51, 52, 56, 58, 59, 66, 68 and 2 "low-risk" types of the virus, HPV -6, 11. HPV genotyping detection is based on Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technology based on a large sample volume for each run, which decreases the testing cost for each individual. The WHO recommends DNA testing as a first-choice screening method for cervical cancer prevention