Vinegar 'pinpoints cancer'

Vinegar 'pinpoints cancer'

A cervical cancer cell about to divide

Vinegar can help to identify cervical cancer in women, according to doctors.

Research carried out in South Africa has found that washing the cervix or neck of the womb with vinegar shows up potentially cancerous cells.

An early trial has suggested the technique is as effective as a pap smear, which is the more usual way of spotting the disease.

Doctors believe their research could pave the way for developing countries to introduce a cheap and effective screening programme for cervical cancer.

Cancerous tissue

Vinegar comprises water and 5% acetic acid. When this solution is placed on the cervix, it turns potentially cancerous tissue white.

This enables nurses to offer patients an immediate diagnosis by simply looking at the cervix. This compares with a pap smear which usually needs to be sent off to a laboratory for testing.

It is not just cost effective it is also logistically a much simpler method of screening

Dr Lynn Denny

Dr Lynn Denny, a gynaecologist at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town and one of those involved in the trial, said results are promising.

"We are using this method almost like a pap smear. We have found that the ability of direct vision inspection is as good as and sometimes better than a pap smear," she said.

"This test will identify white lesions on the cervix that are pre-cancerous lesions, equivalent to what the pap smear will detect."

Many countries in the developing world are unable to afford to implement a national screening programme for cervical cancer.

Dr Denny believes this technique could offer them a viable alternative. Doctors at Groote Schuur Hospital buy their vinegar at a local supermarket.

"It is not just cost effective it is also logistically a much simpler method of screening," she said. "No extra infrastructure is required and we are using the most rudimentary equipment."

The only drawback to the vinegar test is that it sometimes suggests women have cervical cancer when they do not - so-called false-positive results. However, this also occurs with pap smears.

"You end up over-treating large numbers of women," Dr Denny said.

Further study

She is now carrying out further research, funded by the Alliance for Cervical Cancer Prevention, to see if 'over-treating' has an adverse effect on women.

"We are currently investigating the impact of this over-treatment on people's lives," she said.

"The question is, is over-treating a bad thing to do considering you are preventing as lethal and as serious and as expensive a disease as cervical cancer."

More trials are needed before the vinegar test can be introduced elsewhere.

"The problem is we need to have more information on the long-term effectiveness of such approaches," said Dr Rengaswamy Sankaranarayanan, a scientist at the International Agency for Research on Cancer.

This story is featured in the radio programme Health Matters on the BBC World Service.

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