“The good news is A, the HPV vaccine is likely to make a big impact on women, and B, the screening frequency is probably going to go down in the near future,”
Women hoping to avoid cervical-cancer screenings should not get too excited yet. Despite a new study showing the HPV test may be more effective in detecting precancerous cell growth than a Pap smear, the method and frequency of testing is pretty much the same, at least for now.
The study focuses on how the sample taken from the cervix is tested in the lab and concludes that an HPV test, which examines the swab at a molecular level, is a more accurate measure than the microscopic-level analysis of a Pap smear.
The results confirm previous research on the topic, but add another level of credibility because the study was randomized and done on such a large scale, said Dr. Linus Chuang, chairman of Obstetrics and Gynecology with the Western Connecticut Health Network.
It likely won’t change how things are done yet, Chuang added, but it could represent exciting prospects for the future, like the possibility that women can test themselves at home.
ut, the downside to the HPV test could be that it looks for the virus specifically, not cancer, which could lead to more false positives, said Dr. Scott Chudnoff, chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Stamford Hospital.
Chudnoff said many young women have HPV on some level, but in most cases, the virus takes care of itself.
“The HPV test tells you whether or not a person has HPV, but it doesn’t necessarily mean someone is going to get cancer,” Chudnoff said. “HPV is a very common infection, which happens for the majority of young sexually active women especially if they’ve had multiple partners. The rate of getting HPV is extraordinarily high, but the majority of women don’t get cancer.”
Such false positives may lead to more women getting a colposcopy, an invasive procedure where a microscope is used to check the cervix for precancerous growths.
However, Chudnoff agreed that an upside to more research being done is that it’s possible women may need cervical cancer screenings less frequently and could even swab themselves at home. This also may be a result of more young women getting the HPV vaccine, which has been available for about 10 years to reduce the risk of getting the virus.
Source: https://www.newstimes.com/local/article/Connecticut-doctors-weigh-in-on-new-cervical-13081516.php
