METHODS: An online questionnaire was circulated to different countries/cities in Asia-Oceania. The primary objective was to evaluate the coverage of HPV vaccination and cervical screening programs. The secondary objectives were to study the structures of these programs. Five case scenarios were set to understand how the respondents manage the abnormal screening results.
RESULTS: Fourteen respondents from 10 countries/cities had participated. Cervical cancer ranked the first in Myanmar and Nepal. About 10%-15% did not have national vaccination or screening program. The estimated coverage rate for vaccination and screening varied from less than 1% to 70%, which the coverage ran in parallel with the incidence and mortality rates of cervical cancer. All regions approved HPV vaccines, although only four provided free or subsidized programs for nonavalent vaccine. Cervical cytology remained the most common screening tool, and 20%-30% relied heavily on visual inspection using acetic acid. The screening age groups varied in different regions. From the case scenarios, it was noted that some respondents tended to offer more frequent screening tests or colposcopy than recommended by international guidelines.
CONCLUSION: This study revealed discrepancy in the practice of cervical cancer prevention in Asia-Oceania especially access to HPV vaccines. There is an urgent need for a global collaboration to eliminate cervical cancer by public education, reforming services, and medical training.
METHODS: The Mainstreaming Genetic Counselling for Ovarian Cancer Patients (MaGiC) study is a prospective, two-arm observational study comparing oncologist-led and genetics-led counselling. This study included 790 multiethnic patients with ovarian cancer from 23 sites in Malaysia. We compared the impact of different method of delivery of genetic counselling on the uptake of genetic testing and assessed the feasibility, knowledge and satisfaction of patients with ovarian cancer.
RESULTS: Oncologists were satisfied with the mainstreaming experience, with 95% indicating a desire to incorporate testing into their clinical practice. The uptake of genetic testing was similar in the mainstreaming and genetics arm (80% and 79%, respectively). Patient satisfaction was high, whereas decision conflict and psychological impact were low in both arms of the study. Notably, decisional conflict, although lower than threshold, was higher for the mainstreaming group compared with the genetics arm. Overall, 13.5% of patients had a pathogenic variant in BRCA1 or BRCA2, and there was no difference between psychosocial measures for carriers in both arms.
CONCLUSION: The MaGiC study demonstrates that mainstreaming cancer genetics is feasible in low-resource and middle-resource Asian setting and increased coverage for genetic testing.