Physicians using a new fluorescent imaging agent can detect cervical cancer with a handheld microscope, according to research out of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. It may one day eliminate the need for needle biopsies.

A majority of cervical cancer cases are driven by the human papillomavirus. Even with the HPV vaccine and enhanced screening programs, the disease remains an ongoing challenge around the world, particularly in low-resource areas, MSK investigators explained in the July issue of the Journal of Nuclear Medicine.

“This clinical problem could be circumvented by a simple, in vivo, non-invasive, cost-effective, point-of-care method of diagnosis,” said Elizabeth Jewell, MD, an attending physician in gynecologic oncology and director of MSK Monmouth operating rooms at the famed New York cancer center.

The optical imaging technique targets the PARP1 enzyme, which is overexpressed in cervical cancer.

For their study, Jewell et al. analyzed cervical cells biopsies from humans and animal models. Cervical cells were stained using the RARPi-FL imaging agent and imaged via a handheld confocal fiberoptic microscope.

The researchers found those samples with tumors had higher imaging uptake compared to surrounding normal tissue. And that increase corresponded with higher PARP1 expression, the authors noted.

Overall, the cancer specialists underscored the safety of this imaging tracer and noted it can potentially be used to diagnose and manage the treatment of other cancers, in addition to the cervical disease.

“PARPi-FL can be used to specifically identify cancer cells in real-time during colposcopy procedures and could serve as a more precise guide for biopsies or even to replace the need to biopsy altogether,” Paula Demetrio de Souza Franca, MD, visiting investigator at MSK added in a statement.