Groundbreaking Innovations in Cervical Cancer Detection Unveiled at SOHN Breakfast

The SOHN Women's Breakfast took place on May 23rd at the British Consulate-General in Hong Kong. Following a special address by Sarah Robinson, Deputy Consul General (BCG HK), the event began with Katharina Reimer, Executive Director of the Karen Leung Foundation. Both thanked the audience for coming and underscored the importance of shedding light on the most innovative diagnostic tools on the market for disease detection, prevention, and care of HPV-related cervical cancers in Hong Kong.

Dr. Ricky Chiu, CEO of Phase Scientific, began by presenting a case study on a urine HPV test developed by his company that demonstrated comparable accuracy to the gold standard pap smear method. According to his case study, they achieved a high concordance between their urine test and the pap smear, with above 95% concordance. They will be moving on to the next step of the study. "Extract the key biomarkers from liquid samples. Improve the performance of diagnostics to make it better, faster, and cheaper."

Next, Dr. Pui-Wah Choi, founder of WomenX Biotech Limited, shared their mission of creating a menstrual pad for detecting cervical cancer and HPV. She shared an anecdote about what inspired her to pursue this career when a relative had cancer. "Her life could be much better if there was an early diagnosis of these diseases. The survival rate for cervical cancer is only 50%. That's why we need a detection method that can be used easily." They use menstrual blood as the sample for the biomarkers and synthesize new materials to make this pad to preserve the biomarkers. She mentioned that she needed participants for the study and invited those interested to contact her.

Next, Alia Rahman, founder of Amplexd Therapeutics, also began her case study with a personal anecdote. She discovered she had HPV-related carcinoma in situ, the last stage of pre-cancer. Invasive surgery and a potential hysterectomy were necessary if the cancer did not resolve, and it was her only choice. She underwent her first surgery using outdated techniques that were traumatic and dehumanizing, sharing a room and not being fully anesthetized. The lesions returned after 13 years of frequent office visits and biopsies all while paying USD$1,000 per doctor visit despite having insurance. When she needed a second surgery, she refused.

"I will figure it out," she said. She took it upon herself to experiment with compounds that were known in the scientific literature to have efficacy against cervical precancers but hadn't been explored in combination. She self-administered the prototyped treatment and experienced clearance for the first time in 13 years. This low-cost therapeutic that Amplexd is developing holds lots of promise in Asia where cervical precancer rates are twice as high as in the US, and women lack access to such treatments.

"It's incredible to be on stage with these remarkable people who will contribute greatly to the medical field."

After the presentations, our magazine's founder, Jessica Ng facilitated a fireside chat involving Ricky Chiu, Pui-Wah Choi, and Alia Rahman. They discussed important issues such as why people do not screen for HPV, how HPV is transmitted, the stigma around HPV, developing cheaper solutions for testing, and much more.

Dr. Choi noted that 70% of women won't take Pap smears. Among non-Chinese women, the rate is even lower, with only 17% having done a Pap smear in the last three years. In Southeast Asia, around 30% undergo screening. "To eliminate cervical cancer, it should be 70 to 80%, and the vaccine should cover 90% to eliminate 90% of the cancer rate."

"If you can conduct a test at home, it would be a game changer. HPV is a preventable and curable disease."

Dr. Choi shared her insight into why people do not do pap smears or testing: "Discomfort. Embarrassment. Not hygienic. There's a myth that the HPV vaccine can eradicate infections. There are other strains."

Alia responded to the topic of HPV always being sexually transmitted. "It can be contracted through surface contamination, but it's rare. It's not always sexually transmitted. We need to remove the stigma about treating sexual diseases differently from other diseases like food poisoning. For 90% of women, it is a transient infection that your immune system will handle. We need to remove the fear and stigma from this. People should not be treated as dirty for being sexual."

"We should not use fear as a tactic to educate. We should educate people on the facts, like how HPV will resolve itself."

On the topic of screening, Ricky shared information on why it is important to make the technology you are developing available to everyone. "It's not because we don't have proper diagnostics. It about accessibility. Because of stigma. Because of hesitation." Phase Scientific conducted a public health study with 1,000 women, all of whom were willing to do the urine test and send it to the lab. They also surveyed women to understand testing habits. 50% of women had never done cervical screening in their lives. Only 20% did regular screening. Around 10% of the women were infected with HPV, but they did not know they had it and were not monitoring it. When they called the 10% infected, 85% were willing to return to perform a typical pap smear. Among those women, they found 20 with pre-cancer, and 7 of them were at a later stage where treatment was required. This test showcases the need for early detection and screening in the prevention of HPV related cancers. Had they not gotten tested, these women would have never known.

The theme of the fireside chat concluded with one core theme: it demonstrates the necessity of having more affordable and more options for testing to cure this disease.

"This needs to be a joint effort with different stakeholders. There are solutions to these worldwide problems."

Written by: Jeremy Chapnick

Photos by: Jeremy Chapnick