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Repurposing the vaginal tampon for endometrial cancer detection


A device that was first described in the earliest medical literature in the 15th century BC is being made ‘new again’ with contemporary technology. Leveraging its acceptance as a hygiene product and proximity in placement to the endometrium with rapidly evolving sensitivity of molecular detection techniques, the intravaginal tampon may be the ideal biospecimen collection device for endometrial cancer (EC) screening and early detection.

The lower female reproductive tract has been at the center of one of medicine’s greatest screening triumphs – the Papanicolaou cervical smear to detect cervical cancer and dysplasia was initially introduced in 1928. This test evolved over decades to a liquid-based, automated cytologic test, then a co-test with high-risk human papillomavirus DNA detection. Most recently, evidence suggests high-risk human papillomavirus DNA testing alone may offer appropriate cervical cancer and dysplasia screening [1]. Unfortunately, while an abnormal Pap test may indicate the presence of a noncervical gynecologic cancer, cervical cytology is not highly sensitive for upper female reproductive tract cancers [2] and is not a screening test for EC.

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