A simple test for cervical cancer, designed to be used in developing countries, could strike a massive blow against the disease notorious as a "silent killer" of women, doctors said yesterday.
Screening for cervical cancer is routinely done in rich countries and has helped cut mortality from this disease in advanced economies by between 50 and 80 percent.
But the technique requires access to sophisticated labs, which makes it unsuitable for countries that lack financial resources and medical infrastructure and may not even have electricity in remote areas.
Researchers said a prototype of a straightforward, affordable test had been tested in trials among nearly 2,400 women in rural China and proved to be highly accurate.