HPV Testing Better For Diagnosing Cervical Cancer

Boston (DbTechNo) - Writing in the Lancet Oncology researchers say that women would be better off undergoing HPV testing as a way of screening for cervical cancer in place of traditional pap smears.

Pap smears are currently recommended for women to check for any abnormal cells that could be cancer related but according to researchers, these smears are less sensitive than HPV tests.

Researchers analyzed data on 95000 Italian women for their study, and found that those who underwent HPV testing in place of pap smears were less likely to be diagnosed with cervical cancer.

They insist that performing HPV tests instead of pap smears would only benefit women over 35 due to biological changes in the body that would fix themselves naturally being detected in younger women.

Cervical cancer is one of the most deadliest forms of the disease in women, and often is diagnosed after it has had time to invade the body.

Diagnosing this form of the disease as early as possible is critical if patients are to stand a fighting chance of defeating it.

“Our data support the use of stand-alone HPV testing as the primary screening test,” said study leader Dr Guglielmo Ronco from the Centre for Cancer Prevention in Turin.

“Picking up the cancers earlier would save lives.”