A team of researchers from Clemson University and Prisma Health–Upstate, both in South Carolina, are working to create a screening process to detect ovarian cancer in the early or pre-cancerous stages, according to a June 4, 2019 release from Clemson University. Their goal of the researchers is to make this screening as simple and easy for women as getting a pap smear. The idea is to identify the pre-cancerous changes by analyzing the makeup of the cervical mucus. Dr. Larry Puls (right in photo), the Director of Gynecologic Oncology at Prisma Health Cancer Institute; Terri Bruce (center in photo), Director of the Clemson University Light Imaging Facility and Research Assistant Professor of Bioengineering, and Ken Marcus (left in photo), PhD, Professor of Chemistry at Clemson and 2019 University Researcher of the Year, have been working together for more than a year to create this process. Through their research of cervical mucus, exosomes, and chromatography, the scientists are working to find a way to detect and identify pre-cancerous changes in a diagnostic setting. And now they are putting their screening tool to the test through trials. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there is no simple, reliable way to screen for ovarian cancer, especially in women who do not show symptoms. And none of the usual cancer exams work as a screening tool to catch the disease in the pre-cancerous stage, Dr. Puls said. “People have looked at pelvic exams, blood tests, and transvaginal ultrasonography as screening tools and none of it has worked as we would like,” Dr. Puls said. “To this day, there is no adequate screening protocol for ovarian cancer and that’s part of the reason why it’s such a lethal disease. We can’t find it early enough.”Login Or Register To Read Full Story