HPV test may be better option for cervical cancer detection

A report on BBC News shares that the use of a different screening test other than smears may lead to the prevention of more deaths due to cervical cancer. This is only true, however, for women who belong to the above-35 age group.

A team of Italian researchers led by Dr. Guglielmo Ronco from the Centre for Cancer Prevention in Turin analyzed data on 95,000 women over a period of three and a half years. Results showed that those who were tested for the human papillomavirus (HPV) developed less cancers than women who were only tested using smears.

Testing for HPV can detect pre-cancerous changes to cervical cells, which means that the appropriate course of treatment can be started at an early stage. Dr. Leslie Walker, the director of cancer information at the Cancer Research UK said: “We might be able to spot the warning signs even earlier and it might, in future, mean that women go for screening less often.”

Researchers said that HPV testing required less frequent testing – once every five years – as opposed to smears, which required testing once every three years.

The testing, however, is not for all women. Since HPV testing is more sensitive, it also has the tendency to detect problems that, when found in younger women, can usually correct themselves in time and are better left untreated. Hence, the testing is not advisable on younger women under the age of 35 as they may end up being over-treated.