University of Queensland researchers believe they are producing good scientific results with strong commercial potential in a five-year project to detect cervical cancer at early stages.
A large research group at the Co-operative Research Centre for Sensor Signal and Information Processing (CSSIP) has developed sophisticated algorithms for early detection of cervical cancer.
The algorithms are a key part of the collaborative scheme to automate cervical Pap smear screening.
Several million Australian women have Pap smears every year and cytology technicians must manually check each slide, according to CSSIP Queensland node head Professor Denis Longstaff.
'It can take 20 minutes to thoroughly examine one slide, making it an expensive, labour-intensive and repetitive procedure,' he said.
'It is like finding a needle in a haystack and in spite of their best endeavours, cytologists can sometimes overlook abnormal cells. An automated process would make the procedure cheaper and more reliable.'
CSSIP Research fellow Dr Paul Jackway said industry partners and venture capital were now being sought to refine the long-term strategic project, which would prove commercially profitable to industry partners given the large volume of tests conducted each year in Australia.
Dr Jackway said CSSIP was arranging patents on several inventions resulting from the project and several more inventions were in the pipeline.
'Cytometrics means cell image analysis and measurement,' he said.
'This is done using modern image analysis techniques on high magnification computer images taken through a powerful microscope.
'We are particularly interested in measuring the distribution and organisation of chromatin in the nucleus of cells. (Chromatin consists of DNA complexed with proteins. Chromatin is the visible part of the stained nucleus).
'We can accurately measure very subtle changes in chromatin organisation (that no human eye could ever hope to see) and therefore can detect cancer at a very early stage in time for treatment.
'In the near future we aim to produce the technology for a machine which will screen Pap smear slides by assigning them a score. Low values of this score will indicate with a high probability that the smear is normal whereas high scores will indicate that a malignant potential for cervical cancer exists.'
Dr Jackway said the researchers hoped to extend this technique to assist detection of other cancers, such as lung and bladder cancer.
'We may be able to contribute towards a routine screening test for lung cancer, in the same way screening is conducted for cervical and breast cancer,' he said.
'The idea is for early detection at the pre-malignant stages - up to several years before cancer develops.
'Currently there is no real test for lung cancer, and by the time it shows up on X-rays it may be too late.'
Researchers involved in the project include Professor Longstaff, Dr Jackway, Dr Brian Lovell, research fellow Guy Smith, and PhD students Jennifer Hallinan, Pascal Bamford, Andrew Mehnert, and Damian Jones.
Two PhDs have already resulted from the project - Dr Andrew Bradley, now based with Canon in Sydney, and Dr Ross Walker, a postdoctoral scientist at a Japanese research institute. Dr Jackway is seeking more PhD students to join the group.
For further information, contact Dr Jackway, telephone 07 3365 3284 email: jackway@elec.uq.edu.au or Professor Longstaff, telephone 07 3365 3871 email: idl@elec.uq.edu.au
