• 15 women diagnosed with breast cancer and 3 deaths daily, 20+ should perform monthly breast exams by self, clinical breast screening every 3 yrs for 20-40 and annually for 40+
• Early Cancer Detection Centre inaugurated at Col. Nat. Hosp. OPD ground floor 
• Menstrual blood sample strip test which can be used at home can pick up virus that causes cervical cancer and offers alternative to screening 

Approximately 100 new cancer cases are detected in Sri Lanka daily, the Deputy Health Minister Dr. Hansaka Wijemuni stated on Monday (9). He made the remarks during the inauguration of the new Early Cancer Detection Centre. The Centre was established on the ground floor of the Outpatient Department (OPD) building at the National Hospital, Colombo. At present, similar centres are operating in six hospitals across the country, and plans are underway to establish centres in every District. The number of reported cancer cases is rising daily, with many patients presenting at advanced stages of the disease. Around 40 patients succumb to cancer daily. 

The National Cancer Control Programme reports that, on average, 15 women are diagnosed with breast cancer daily in Sri Lanka, with three of them dying each day. The Programme recommends that individuals over the age of 20 perform monthly breast examinations by themselves. Meanwhile, clinical breast screening is advised every three years for those aged 20 to 40, and annually for those above 40.

Meanwhile, a pioneering test of period blood for signs of cervical cancer could be a convenient, non-invasive and accurate way of screening for the disease, researchers have said. A regular sanitary pad topped with a blood sample strip can pick up the human papillomavirus (HPV), which causes most cases of cervical cancer, and could be used by women at home, the results of a study indicate. Currently, most women undergo cervical screening under the care of a clinician, who collects a sample via a brush inserted into the vagina. But, millions of women invited for screening do not attend. Researchers in China compared the diagnostic accuracy of menstrual blood with samples collected by a clinician for detecting cervical cell abnormalities (CIN2 and CIN3), which can require treatment. Their findings, published in the BMJ medical journal, were based on 3,068 women, aged between 20 and 54 with regular menstrual cycles, who were enrolled in Hubei, China, between 2021 and last year (2025). Each provided three samples for testing: a menstrual blood sample collected using a sanitary pad and strip, a cervical sample collected by a clinician, and an extra sample collected by a health worker for processing in a lab. Researchers assessed the sensitivity of the test, which indicates how well it picks up people who have a disease, as well as the specificity, which picks up those without the disease. The samples collected from pads showed a sensitivity of 94.7 per cent for detecting CIN2, which was comparable to clinician-collected samples (92.1%). While the pad performed less well on specificity, the probability that a person with a negative test result truly did not have the disease was identical for both collection methods. Referrals for further tests were also comparable. “The results show the utility of using minipad-collected menstrual blood for HPV testing as a standardised, non-invasive alternative or replacement for cervical cancer screening,” the study authors said. 

The Chief Executive of the gynaecological cancer charity, Eve Appeal, Athena Lamnisos however said that the ability to test for HPV in period blood would not work for everyone, including, for instance, women who were menopausal.

With inputs from The Guardian