Implementation of molecular techniques for routine diagnosis of infection-associated malignancies in tertiary referral health care facilities in low- and middle- income countries: Progress and challenges

Abstract

Infection-driven malignancies are increasingly being recognized as health care burden in resource poor setting, and result in high mortality rates. Lack of established ancillary molecular techniques in such settings for the early and accurate diagnosis as recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), has led to challenges in diagnosis of these malignancies. Consequently, this leads to mismanagement of patients and the frequent mortalities observed. Progress has been made in implementation of these techniques for diagnostic utility in tertiary referral health care facilities in low- and middle-income countries, but limitations still remain. Here, milestones and challenges in the application of these techniques for early diagnosis of infection-associated malignancies are reported.