THE USE OF TERC/C-MYC PROBE FOR IN-SITU HYBRIDISATION AS A TEST OF CURE FOR HIGH GRADE CERVICAL INTRAEPITHELIAL NEOPLASIA.

Edwin

Cervical cancer is one of the leading cancers in women world wide and the second most common cancer among the under 35s females in the United Kingdom. It develops through a series of precursor lesions termed cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) to high grade lesion and eventually invasive cancer. The progression of CIN to a cervical carcinoma has been found to involve the integration of the human papilloma virus (HPV) into the host genome, genomic instability and specific genetic aberrations including amplification of TERC (3q26) and C-MYC (8q24) genes. The TERC and C-MYC genes are responsible for coding the RNA component of telomerase and transcriptional regulators involved in cell proliferation respectively.

FISH probes for TERC and C-MYC genes will be used to demonstrate the amplification of these genes amongst patient samples classified as high grade (CIN 3), pre and post treatment by diathermy loop excision. This research is aimed at revealing that there is amplification of the above mentioned genes in high grade CIN and thus assists in the identification of patients with the likelihood of developing cervical cancers. It will also provide a routine test of cure for patients with high grade CIN who undergo treatment by diathermy loop excision.