Is it time to give up the Pap test? Research suggests that HPV testing is a better way to spot cancer of the cervix – National

In most Canadian provinces, women are asked to consult a health professional every three years for a Pap test for uterine cervix cancer

. suggests that women undergo the wrong test: at first, they should be screened for human papillomavirus

. The randomized clinical trial, which examined more than 19,000 women in BC, found that HPV testing potentially detected cancer. causing lesions earlier and more accurately than Pap tests. After 48 months, fewer women with HPV testing had precancerous lesions than women who had had a Pap test

"What we found was the use of HPV, we were able to detect these precancerous lesions more early, "said Dr. Gina Ogilvie, one of the study's authors and professor at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia.

Early detection is important because cancer of the cervix of the uterus can often be avoided. turning into a cancer in its own right.

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The second major finding of the study was that if an HPV test was negative, which meant that the woman did not have HPV she was less likely to If you were negative HPV, you were more confident in this negative result because four years later you were much less likely to have Pre-cancerous lesions compared to women who were cytologically negative, "says Ogilvie.

About 99.7% of cervical cancer cases are caused by HPV infection, especially the one that persists." So when we learn that, it starts to make sense. Let's look for the virus that causes the persistent infection that causes precancerous lesions that will then cause cancer. "

Changing Testing Programs

Dr. Joan Murphy, Clinical Lead for the Ontario Cervical Cancer Screening Program, has stated that HPV testing has been the primary test of cancer for many years. cervical cancer screening

. "HPV is more reliable in the sense that if HPV is present, it will be detected almost always. So, a negative test is very reliable – it tells us that the woman is not at risk. "A positive result means that the woman must undergo a follow-up test to determine whether there is a need for medical intervention, or if she just needs to be observed more closely, many HPV infections will go away." themselves.

HPV is very common – Health Canada estimates that about 70% of badually active adults will develop it at some point in their lives. "This is called the common cold. of the lower bad tract, "says Murphy.

" It's very common and like the common cold, it comes and goes and often causes no problem. "

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Cancer Care Ontario recommends that HPV testing be used as the first test, and the Ontario government has promised in its 2017 budget to change the screening system to start with HPV testing. . No Canadian province currently does, Murphy said, and Ontario has yet to implement its new program.

But other countries have already: As of December 2017, Australian women are being tested for HPV. screening. Ireland, after a cervical cancer screening program in which one did not tell many women that they had had a problematic result on their Pap test , also plans to add the HPV screening test to its program

. the Pap test should be completely abandoned. After an HPV test, follow-up screening might include a Pap test to look for abnormal cells.

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Aside from accuracy, there are other benefits of HPV testing. If someone got a negative result and did not have HPV, it probably would not need to be tested for another five years, rather than three, said Dr. Sheila Dunn. , doctor and researcher at Women's College Hospital. [19659002"Womenwomenhavebeenverylikelytohaveaproblem"shesaid"Womenwhohavenotexceededwiththemwouldhavebeyenfutureforward"

Unfortunately, moving to the HPV test would not mean the end of the stirrups and a speculum in a room. review – at least until home testing kits are improved. The test procedure is very similar to a Pap test and it is unlikely that the patient will notice a big difference.