More women could be screened for cervical cancer risk if home tests were available, researchers reported today.
The tests can screen for the human papillomavirus (HPV), which is linked to cervical cancer risk, the most common form of cancer in women under 35. Rates of screening have fallen just below the government target of 80 per cent.
Dr Anne Szarewski of the Cancer Research UK Unit at Barts & The London School of Medicine & Dentistry, London, UK, carried out the study.
Her team sent self-sample HPV test kits to 1,500 women who had not responded to at least two screening invitations from the Westminster Primary Care Trust. A further 1,500 women were sent a further invitation to screening.
In the first group, about ten per cent of women either used the kit (6.4 per cent) or went to a normal smear test appointment (3.8 per cent). But only 4.5 per cent of women in the second group went for a smear test.
"Women who don’t go for cervical screening face a higher risk of cervical cancer so it’s important to encourage these women to take part," said Dr Szarewski. "HPV self-sampling could be an effective way of getting women to be screened.
"Home testing for HPV is as accurate as samples taken by doctors and can help address some of the reasons, like finding time or being embarrassed, that women often give as reasons for not attending screening."
The study is published in the British Journal of Cancer. The researchers call for similar trials in other parts of the country.
Sara Hiom of Cancer Research UK added: "Finding a way to screen women who do not go for smear tests could be very valuable."
HPV self-sampling as an alternative in non-attenders for cervical screening – a randomised controlled trial. Szarewski, A. et al. The British Journal of Cancer, published online March 16, 2011.
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