Case Study - Poland
Cervical cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in women aged 15-44 years in Poland, with an ‘at risk’ population of 17.1 million. Poland has an annual total of 3,513 cervical cancer cases, with an annual mortality of 1,8581. These relatively high cervical cancer rates (when compared to other European countries) can be attributed to Poland having no national screening or HPV vaccination programme. This contributes to the country’s low early detection rate and higher rate of high-risk HPV infections, respectively.
To help address the high incidence of cervical cancer across Poland, leading experts in obstetrics and gynaecology are forming scientific societies. Their focus is on improving colposcopic accuracy and introducing new technology to support better detection of cervical abnormalities.
In December 2017 ZedScan was introduced into the University Hospital of Wrocław as part of an initiative to improve services and encourage more women to attend colposcopy. The hospital’s colposcopy department is led by Dr Wojciech Homola, under the leadership of Professor Mariusz Zimmer, President of the Polish Society of Gynaecologists and Obstetricians.
ZedScan is a unique adjunct diagnostic device that uses Electrical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) technology to identify cell changes that cannot always be seen during standard colposcopy practice. EIS differentiates between normal, pre-cancerous and cancerous tissue, and provides clinicians with an opportunity to identify cell changes earlier2,3.
Real world data shows 96.2% of all high-grade abnormalities are identified, when using ZedScan as an adjunct diagnostic alongside standard colposcopy2. ZedScan seamlessly integrates into standard colposcopy and provides clinicians with additional information to support decision making2.
In September 2018, Mobile SCANMED Systems, became the distributor for ZedScan in Poland. This agreement has enabled the introduction of ZedScan into several private clinics across Poland and provided local product support for clinicians at the University Hospital of Wrocław.
Mobile SCANMED Systems is a Poland-based organisation with a focus on the early detection of cervical abnormalities through increased and improved screening as a method of significantly reducing the incidence rate of cervical cancer. The company aims to provide pioneering technology that seamlessly integrates into current healthcare practice.
Zilico look forward to working with our distributor in Poland to support and improve colposcopy services as we expand our ZedScan presence across the country.
[1] HPV Information centre (2017). Poland: Human Papillomavirus and Related Cancers, Fact Sheet 2017. ICO/IARC Information Centre on HPV and Cancer. Accessed on 12/11/2018 from: http://www.hpvcentre.net/statistics/reports/POL_FS.pdf
[2] Macdonald, M.C., Brown, B.H., Lyon, R.E., Healey, T.J., Palmer, J.E. Tidy, J.A. (2017) “Influence of high risk HPV genotype on colposcopic performance: A large prospective study demonstrates improved detection of disease with ZedScan I, particularly on non-HPV16 patients” European Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Reproductive Biology. https://www.ejog.org/article/S0301-2115(17)30092-1/fulltext
[3] Tidy, J.A., Brown, B.H., Lyon, R.E., Healey, T.J., Palmer, J.E. (2016) ‘Are colposcopy and electrical impedance spectroscopy complementary when used to detect high-grade cervical neoplasia?’, European Journal of Gynaecological Oncology, 2016, pp.70-75. https://zilico.co.uk/zedscan/what-is-zedscan/publications-and-references/