A. N. DIBA

HEALTH BRIDGE

To

Improve

Cervical

Cancer

Screening

21 Nov 2020

On 1 July 2020, the website Health IT Analytic "healthitanslytics.com" published an article entitled "Enhancing Cervical Cancer Screenings with Artificial Intelligence" written by Jessica Kent.

The article has a suntitle. It addresses: "Integrating artificial intelligence with medical imaging improved the accuracy and efficiency of cervical cancer screenings."

Souece:

Enhancing
Cervical
Cancer
Screenings
with

Artificial
Intelligence

Jessica Kent writes, "The potential for artificial intelligence to advance medical imaging and radiology has been well-documented in healthcare research."

The author points out, "From earlier detection and more accurate assessments, to less expensive testing and improved workflows, AI and machine learning tools
have demonstrated their ability to transform the medical imaging field."

The writer explains, "In the realm of cancer care, these potential advances are even more pronounced."

She addresses, "The complexity of cancer, as well as the enormous volumes of data providers need to consider when treating cancer, makes this area well-suited to the abilities of AI.

"In particular, researchers have increasingly sought to use AI and machine learning tools to improve cervical cancer screening – a process that, despite advancements, is still susceptible to error."

Souece:

Enhancing
Cervical
Cancer
Screenings
with

Artificial
Intelligence

The author cites Nicolas Wentzensen, MD, PhD of NCI’s Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, told HealthITAnalytics as saying:

"Over the last decade, there have been major developments in the field of cervical cancer and cervical cancer screening."<

"The recognition that human papillomavirus (HPV) is a primary cause of cervical cancer has led to the development of not only vaccines, but also HPV tests,” adds Dr. Wentzensen.

Souece:

Enhancing
Cervical
Cancer
Screenings
with

Artificial
Intelligence

Dr. Wentzensen ddresses, "To determine whether patients may need colposcopy, biopsy, or treatment, providers may also administer Pap cytology tests."

He explains, "These tests require specially trained laboratory professionals to analyze stained slides to look for abnormal cells, allowing providers to identify precancers before they progress to cancer."

According to Dr. Wentzensen, "While Pap cytology tests have reduced cervical cancer incidents over the last decade, this approach is very subjective and prone to false-positive findings.”

Souece:

Enhancing
Cervical
Cancer
Screenings
with

Artificial
Intelligence

AI-Based

App

Screening

For

Cervical

Cancer

21 Nov 2020

The April 1, 2019 issue of Scientific American published an article entitled "AI-Based App Could Screen for Cervical Cancer" written by Wudan Yan.

The subtitle is:

"An algorithm that can diagnose the disease from photographs would be especially useful in developing countries."

The author writes, "One of the most common and cost-effective ways to detect cervical cancer is the pap smear, in which cells are scraped from a woman's cervix and sent to a laboratory for analysis."

The writer adds, "But this method requires equipment and medical expertise that are not always available in some low-income countries."

Wudan Yan in his article notes, "Now scientists are making an app they hope could use artificial intelligence to identify precancerous or cancerous cells with just a photograph."

Source:

AI
-Based
App
Could
Screen
for
Cervical
Cancer

The author writes, "The app is being developed by researchers at the National Institutes of Health and Global Good; the latter is a joint effort by Bill Gates and invention firm Intellectual Ventures."

"Their preliminary results, published online in January in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, suggest that such an approach could significantly improve cervical cancer diagnosis in low-resource settings."

Source:

AI
-Based
App
Could
Screen
for
Cervical
Cancer

Long-lasting

Infection

With

Certain

Types

of

HPV

Main

Cause

of

Cervical

Cancer

21 Nov 2020

The basic information about the cervical cancer (provided in the website of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)) says:

"When cancer starts in the cervix, it is called cervical cancer. The cervix connects the vagina (birth canal) to the upper part of the uterus."

The information addresses, "The uterus (or womb) is where a baby grows when a woman is pregnant."

CDC in USA in its information addresses, "All women are at risk for cervical cancer. It occurs most often in women over age 30."

Source:

Cervical
Cancer

The basic information (CDC, USA) in its website provides says, "Long-lasting infection with certain types of human papillomavirus (HPV) is the main cause of cervical cancer."

"HPV is a common virus that is passed from one person to another during sex."

The basic information from CDC (USA) about the cervical cancer explains, "At least half of sexually active people will have HPV at some point in their lives, but few women will get cervical cancer."

Source:

Cervical
Cancer

According to the basic information from CDC (USA), "women will get cervical cancer."

"Screening tests and the HPV vaccine can help prevent cervical cancer."

"When cervical cancer is found early, it is highly treatable and associated with long survival and good quality of life."

Source:

Cervical
Cancer

The 2003 Time Book (Special Reference Edition) entitled "A to Z Health Guide: How to Live Better and Longer" (New York, Time Books, Time Inc. Home Entertainment) addresses:

"The link between human papillomavirus, a common sexually transmitted disease, and cervical cancer is as simple as it is powerful:
almost all cervical tumors need an HPV infection to get started." (p.31)

The information in the Time Book (2003, Special Reference Edition) addresses:

"In most cases, a woman's immune system eliminates HPV before it can act up; in some cases, however, the infection becomes chronic, with measurable levels of the virus remaining in the system."(p.31)

The information adds, "Perhaps 5% od these women will eventyally develop precancerous lesions that can lead to cervical cancer."(p.31)

The information provided by the book (2003 From A to Z Health Guide) says:

"A recent study showed for the first time that it's poasible to vaccinate women against at least obe strain of HPV."(p.31)

The information provided by 2003 Time Book (Special Reference Edition) addresses:

"About 20 of the 100 or so strains of HPV have been linked to cervical cancer , but 70% of cervical tumors are just caused by just two strains- HPV-16 abd HPV-18."(p.31)

Rebecca Skloot, in chapter 27 of her 2010 book (New York, Broadway Paperback) writes:

In 1984 a German virologist named Harald zur Hausen discovered a new strain of sexually transmitted virus called Human Papilloma Virus 18 (HPV-18).(p.212)

Rebecca Skloot adds, "He believed it and HPV-16, which he'd discovered a year earlier, caused cervical cancer."(p.211)

The special reference edition (2003 Time Books) says, "Researchers at the University of Washington in Seattle focused on HPV-16, inoculating 768 women with a prorotype anti-HPV-16 vaccine."(p.31)

The information in the book (From A to Z Health Guide, Time Books, 2003) explains, "After an average of 17 months, not a single woman who received the vaccine developed an infection, whereas 41 of 765 women in a placebo group did."(p.31)

The informaton in the Time Book (From A to Z Health Guide, 2003) adds:

"Next step:testing a more refined vaccine that will protect against key cancer-causing forms od HPV as well as strains that trigger genital warts.It may be available in five years "(p.31)

The Time Book Health Guide(New York, 2003) addresses:

"A new vaccine may one day put a stop to this killer, which is caused by HPV, a sexually transmitted virus."(p.31)

The 2003 Time Health Guide Book cites the advises from the American Cancer Society as saying:

The American Cancer Society advises that l women get a Pap-smear test for cervical cancer three years after starting to have sex or no longer than age 21."

"Those over 30 who had three normal Pap-smears in a row can scale back to once every twi or three years, except those at risk for HIV or with a weak immune system."

***The Resources of Time Books: National Center For Chronic Disease Prevention:

www.cdc.gov/cancer/nbccedp

Biomedicine

of

HeLa Cells

21 Nov 2020

On 10 October 2020 The Embryo Project at Arizona State University's website published about the story of Henrietta Lacks with entitled " Henrietta Lacks (1920–1951)" written by Rohini Nott.

The author writes, "Henrietta Lacks, born Loretta Pleasant, had terminal cervical cancer in 1951, and was diagnosed at The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, where researchers collected and stored her cancer cells."

Rohini Nott in her article addresses the following:

"Those cells went on to become the first immortal human cell line, which the researchers named HeLa."

The writer adds, "An immortal cell line is an atypical cluster of cells that continuously multiply on their own outside of the organism from which they came, often due to a mutation."

Source:

Henrietta
Lacks
(1920–
1951)

Rohini Nott explains, "Lacks’s cancer cells enabled scientists to study human cells outside of the human body, though that was controversial since she did not voluntarily donate her cells for such research."

She addresses, "Science writer Rebecca Skloot chronicled Lacks’s life in her book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, which became a movie in 2017."

The author writes, "Lacks’s HeLa cell line has contributed to numerous biomedical research advancements and discoveries and her story has prompted legal and ethical debates over the rights that an individual has to their genetic material and tissue."

In the website "howstuffworks.com" SHANNA FREEMAN authored an article entitled "How HeLa Cells Work."

The author writes, "Have you ever heard of HeLa cells? They've been around for more than 60 years, but unless you're a medical researcher, the name probably didn't crop up on your radar until recently, if at all."

She adds, "In the past decade or so, countless articles -- and one New York Times bestselling book-- have been written about them."

Source:

How
HeLa
Cells
Work

Shanna Freeman in her article addresses the following:

"But what's a HeLa cell? It's a line, or population, of cells, taken from a person and used in scientific research."

She adds, "Cell lines are often named after the people from whom they were originally derived, and HeLa comes from the first two letters in the name Henrietta Lacks."

The writer continues, "Cell lines are used in all kinds of ways, such as studying the effects of diseases or developing medications and vaccines, and play an invaluable role in medicine today."

Source:

How
HeLa
Cells
Work

Shanna Freeman in her article addresses, "But HeLa cells were the first -- the first line of human cells to survive in vitro (in a test tube)."

"Named after a cancer patient, the cells were taken from Lacks' tissue samples and grown by a researcher named Dr. George Gey in 1951."

The author writes, "Dr. Gey quickly realized that some of Lacks' cells were different from normal cells."

"While those died, they just kept on growing."

Source:

How
HeLa
Cells
Work

Shanna Freeman in her article addresses, "After more than 50 years, there are now billions and billions of HeLa cells in laboratories all over the world."

"It's the most commonly used cell line, and it's known to be extremely resilient."

The author writes, "Although initially HeLa was developed for use in cancer research, that was just a start."

Source:

How
HeLa
Cells
Work

The writer adds, "HeLa cells have even been sent to outer space, proving that cancer cells can grow there."

"Almost since its creation, the HeLa cell line has been used in many different ways, and it even helped found entire fields of study."

Shanna Freeman addresses, "The most well-known early use of HeLa involves a disease that has been eradicated in the Western hemisphere."

"In the early 1950s, the United States was stricken by fear of contracting the infectious, paralytic disease called polio."

The author adds, "Outbreaks were on the rise, with about 60,000 cases in 1952, and there was a huge push to come up with a vaccine."

Source:

How
HeLa
Cells
Work

The Aug 18, 2019 issue of The Medium "medium.com" published an article entitled "Henrietta Lacks and Biomedical Research" written by Sam Moghaddam.

The author writes, "On the 29th of January, 1951, a young woman by the name of Henrietta Lacks is admitted to Johns Hopkins Hospital, complaining of abdominal pain, and had abnormal bleeding in the abdomen."

Sam Moghadsam in his nm article addresses, "Shortly after, she was diagnosed with cervical cancer, (later found to be caused by Human PapillomaVirus (HPV)) and died 9 months after."

The writer adds, "Little did we know, this young tobacco farmer and her line of HeLa cells (Henrietta Lacks) would change medicine forever."

Source:

Henrietta
Lacks
and
Biomedical
Research

The author talks about Why HeLa cells are special and notes:

"While she was alive in the hospital, some of the tissue from her cervix was taken without her consent."

"At the time, Johns Hopkins was performing a study attempting to grow human cells outside of the human body. It had been largely unsuccessful."

Sam Moghaddam in his article adds, "But when the HeLa cells were brought into the lab, the head of the research, Dr. George Gey realized something different."

"They could live much past the normal lifespan of just a few days and divided super-fast."

Source:

Henrietta
Lacks
and
Biomedical
Research

The writer xplains:

" As a matter of fact, within the first 24 hours, the cells had already doubled in number."

The author points out, "Normal cells only divide 50 times before they die through a process of apoptosis, but HeLa cells could go waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay past that."

Source:

Henrietta
Lacks
and
Biomedical
Research

On 24 Feb 2019, an article entitled "Henrietta Lacks’ cancer cells live on in biomedical research" published in the VARSITY "the varsity.ca", written by Adam A. Lam.

The article was subtitled:"The story of a patient who changed the course of medical history."

The author writes, "Henrietta Lacks was a cervical cancer patient who grew up in a poor family of tobacco farmers in Virginia. She died at the age of 31."

The writer addresses, "As described in her biography, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot, despite the radiation treatment that left her burned from chest to pelvis, Lacks’ cancer followed her to her deathbed in Baltimore, Maryland."

Source"

Henrietta
Lacks’
cancer
cells
live
on
in
biomedical
research

Adam A. Lam. in his article writes, "In the “coloured” ward of The Johns Hopkins Hospital, where she received medical care from white doctors for her cancer, a part of her was unknowingly removed by her practitioners."

"Her doctors took a sample of her tumour to cell biologist George Gey, who sought to find human cells that could persist in cell culture."

The author notes, "Lacks’ cells, now called HeLa cells, enabled Gey to culture the first line of human cells that could persist indefinitely outside of the donor’s body under controlled conditions."

The writer cites U of T biochemistry professor Igor Stagljar as explaning, "This profoundly affected medical research."

Professor Stagljar addressed, "The most significant application of HeLa, in my opinion, was in the development of the first polio vaccine."

"In 1952, Jonas Salk tested his first polio vaccine on HeLa cells and then used them to mass produce it."

Source"

Henrietta
Lacks’
cancer
cells
live
on
in
biomedical
research