Endometrial cancer is the most common cancer of the female reproductive organs. One of the only ways to diagnose it requires an invasive procedure.
Dr. Melissa Herbst-Kralovetz is a professor with the University of Arizona, Phoenix.
"And so, that is, basically, putting a device through the cervix so dilating the cervix, and then taking a piece of the endometrium," Melissa Herbst-Kralovetz said.
Often without anesthesia, she says.
So she patented a non-invasive diagnostic tool that a woman could use at home.
The No. 1 sign and symptom of endometrial cancer is abnormal bleeding, especially in postmenopausal women.Dr. Melissa Herbst-Kralovetz
Herbst-Kralovetz says she also want to remove the myriad barriers facing patients, including pain.
"So another kind of barrier, but obviously it's really painful, so then when a woman comes from like a rural area, for example, and then she has you know massive cramping and bleeding after the procedure, then she has to turn around and drive back home. This is what we're trying to overcome," she said.
Transportation and child care are other barriers.
To put a finer point on why a less invasive approach is needed when it comes to testing and treatment, take prostate cancer.
"There's five different treatments for prostate cancer and they're all kind of equal, you know, in terms of their efficacy. But we don't really have anything for endometrial cancer except for a hysterectomy," she said.
Herbst-Kralovetz says her test still needs FDA approval and is a few years away from being available.
The No. 1 sign and symptom of endometrial cancer is abnormal bleeding, especially in postmenopausal women," Herbst-Kralovetz said.
