The CBC Health Services Women’s Health Program is starting an initiative titled, “Misoprostol to optimize Prevention of cancer of the cervix: A Double-Blind Randomized Controlled Trial (MISOPCs) Project.
The research is a clinical trial, according to the Principal Investigator of the Project, Dr. Simon Manga who doubles as the Deputy Director for Clinical Services for the CBC Health Services. The research has two main objectives; It will test the effectiveness of vaginal misoprostol 600 versus placebo on conversion and also assesses the satisfaction and acceptability of integrating misoprostol for Type 3 TZ into a cervical cancer screening program.
The screening period runs from June 15, 2024, to December 31, 2028. This targets women with Type 3 Transformation Zone (TZ) aged 25 years and above identified during cervical cancer screening. The TZ is the portion of the cervix where 90% of precancerous and cancerous legions originate. For women with advanced ages, the TZ is difficult to visualize sometimes she is able to be adequately screened because part of the TZ is not seen. This has been a major problem. The testing of Misoprostol is to see if it can bring out the TZ from the internal canal to the outer part of the cervix for appropriate screening and proper diagnosis.
As a double-blind randomized controlled trial, women in two different groups; the intervention and controlled groups will receive intra-vaginal misoprostol and placebo respectively. To ensure efficacy, everyone in the study would be blind on the drug administered to women on both groups. The project aims to enroll 420 women divided in the two groups.
The project commenced with the training of Nurses, Doctors, Chief Medical Officers, Supervisors of Nursing Services, and some Administrators.
The Clinical Trial will run in the 7 sites of the Women’s Health Program facilities; EtougEbe Baptist Hospital, Ekoumndoum Baptist Hospital, Mboppi Baptist Hospital, Bonaberi Baptist Hospital, Baptist Hospital Mutengene, Nkwen Baptist Hospital and Mbingo Baptist Hospital.
The success of the clinical trial, according to the Principal Investigator, will shift the paradigm of cervical cancer screening for women with invisible TZs in low-and-middle income countries. High income countries use other strategies to ensure that this is done through histological analysis of samples, a technique not yet available in low-and middle-income countries. Positive findings in this research, he adds, will be a great breakthrough. This project is sponsored by the National Institute of Health in the USA.
The project has already carried out training in 4 regions including the Center, Littoral, South West and the North West regions where the training sites are located. Presentations during the training are done by the Principal Investigator, Dr. Simon Manga and the Project Manager, Dr. Nicole Ekoue.