Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer worldwide with 60,000 new cases and 30,000 deaths each year in Europe alone, despite a significant progress in early diagnosis and treatment. Infection by the human papillomavirus (HPV) is accepted as the central risk factor for cervical cancer.

However, it is unlikely to be the sole cause for developing cancer. Ongoing research investigates the role of specific genetic, environmental factors in determining HPV-persistence and subsequent progression of disease.

Association studies among genetic characteristics and environmental agents and virus characteristics can suggest pathogenetic mechanisms that will provide new markers of risk, diagnosis and prognosis, and possibly treatment.

The main objectives of ASSIST are to:
• Unify multiple patient records repositories
• Automate the process of evaluating medical hypotheses (association studies type)
• Allow researchers to combine phenotypic and genotypic data
• Provide an inference engine capable of statistically evaluating medical.
• Offer expressive, graphical tools for medical researchers to post their queries.