Viral challenge to screening techniques

Tuesday August 23rd, 2011

Virus testing is a massively better way of screening for cervical cancer than existing laboratory techniques, according to the findings of a major study published today.

Testing for two human papillomaviruses should be the first-line of screening rather than the existing smear tests, according to the study published in The Lancet Oncology.

Researchers say smear tests could be used for the next stage - for women who have been infected with HPV - but they may not be needed.

The project, known as the Athena trial, involved some 47,000 women over the age of 25 studied over a one year period.

The research showed that HPV testing was far more accurate at identify those who needed colposcopy testing than was smear testing (cytology).

Of those referred through HPV testing, some 92 per cent were found to have high-grade pre-cancers. This compared with 53 per cent of those who underwent cytology.

And although cytology might be used as a stage of screening, the researchers say it added little to HPV testing.

The DNA testing process detects the HPV16 and HPV18 viruses.

This could "provide potentially cost-effective and safe cervical cancer screening," according to researchers led by Dr Philip Castle, of the American Society for Clinical Pathology Institute, Washington DC.

Writing in the journal Dr Guglielmo Ronco, of thee Centre of Cancer Prevention, Turin, Italy, adds: "Co-testing of HPV and cytology will probably be replaced by standalone HPV testing as the primary screening test in high-income countries, because addition of cytology seems to provide little gain."

The Lancet Oncology August 23 2011

Tags: Cancer | Europe | Flu & Viruses | North America | Women’s Health & Gynaecology

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