HPV testing at home

A Lund University study has found that HPV self-testing is as effective as tests done by doctors and, more importantly, more comfortable for women who find regular smear tests unpleasant.

Sweden has a system of regular gynaecological smear tests, which has halved the number of cases of cervical cancer. According to Lund’s Dr Lotten Darlin, “We are usually able to cure cases of cancer that are identified through smear tests.”

But of those women within the program’s screening age, 20% fail to attend. Dr Darlin said, “It is these women who are at risk of dying from the disease”, as the cancer will have progressed further by the time it is diagnosed.

In Dr Darlin’s study ‘Cervical cancer studies on prevention and treatment’, she stated, “The most common reason for non-attending was ‘uncomfortable with vaginal examination’.” Other reasons included that the women felt healthy and that they hadn’t had time.

Dr Darlin investigated the possibility of home testing, but the testing kits currently available were found to be either complicated or expensive. So she and her colleagues decided to develop their own test, comprising a simple cotton bud and a test tube. The test is sent off to a lab, where it has been shown to produce just as clear results as HPV tests taken by a doctor.

“When 1000 women who had not taken a cytology sample for over nine years were offered self-sampling at home, 15% responded,” Dr Darlin said, noting this is a significant improvement. “In contrast, when 500 women were offered flexible and free open clinic appointments, 4.2% came.”

She also believes the simple self-testing kit could also be used in countries that do not have a program of regular cervical smear tests. This would be particularly beneficial for developing countries, in which 85% of cervical cancer deaths occur.

“It doesn’t require a lot of resources or a well-developed healthcare system to analyse the results,” she said. “The women just need a basic knowledge of their bodies to take the test correctly.”

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