Two studies presented at the Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP) 2026 Annual Meeting & Expo have highlighted how molecular testing could improve women’s healthcare through more accurate infection diagnosis, antibiotic resistance detection, and cancer risk assessment.
The research covers two areas of women’s health: sexually transmitted infections and endometrial cancer. One study examined antibiotic resistance in Mycoplasma genitalium, while the other investigated how DNA methylation patterns could help predict cancer recurrence.
The AMP Annual Meeting is taking place from November 10 to 14, 2026, in Seattle, bringing together researchers and laboratory professionals working on advances in molecular diagnostics.
Molecular Testing Identifies Antibiotic Resistance in STI Patients
A study conducted by researchers from Unified Women’s Healthcare and Alline, formerly Florida Woman Care, examined 121,966 vaginal swab specimens to investigate Mycoplasma genitalium (MG), an emerging sexually transmitted infection associated with urethritis, cervicitis, and pelvic inflammatory disease.
Among 4,605 MG-positive specimens with evaluable results, 41.5% showed resistance to macrolide antibiotics. This resistance can complicate treatment decisions and limit the effectiveness of commonly used antibiotics.
To address this challenge, the researchers implemented an automated reflex testing system that identifies antibiotic resistance and helps guide treatment selection.
The system achieved a median turnaround time of four days, demonstrating the feasibility of introducing resistance-guided testing in high-volume women’s healthcare settings.
The approach supports treatment recommendations from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which emphasise the importance of identifying macrolide resistance when managing MG infections.
The study, titled Mycoplasma genitalium and Macrolide Resistance Prevalence Across a Large Women’s Health Cohort: Implementation of a Reflex Testing Algorithm That Supports CDC-Recommended Resistance-Guided Treatment, was led by John Fulmer of Unified Women’s Healthcare. He is scheduled to present the findings during a poster session at 9:15 a.m. on November 14 at the Seattle Convention Center.
DNA Methylation Profiling Could Help Predict Endometrial Cancer Recurrence
The second study, conducted by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), examined whether molecular profiling could reveal differences in recurrence risk among patients with endometrial cancer.
The researchers analysed DNA methylation patterns in 219 tumour samples from patients with low-grade, limited-stage, copy number-low endometrioid adenocarcinoma, the most common type of endometrial cancer.
DNA methylation involves chemical modifications that influence how genes are regulated without changing the underlying DNA sequence.
The analysis identified distinct patterns of methylation that were strongly associated with cancer recurrence risk. The researchers also found differences in the distribution of certain genetic mutations and chromosomal changes across the identified clusters.
These included variations in CTNNB1 and DICER1 mutations, along with copy number gains involving chromosome 1q.
The findings suggest that patients whose tumours appear similar under conventional clinical and pathological classification may nevertheless have different molecular characteristics and recurrence risks.
Molecular Profiling Could Support More Personalised Cancer Care
The UCSF findings indicate that epigenetic profiling could provide additional information for assessing cancer recurrence beyond conventional tumour classification.
By identifying molecular differences among apparently similar tumours, the approach may eventually help clinicians develop more individualised risk assessments and follow-up strategies.
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