Test For Human Papilloma Virus—A New Way To Diagnosis Cervical Cancer
Most women are familiar with the Pap smear—a cervical swab taken during routine pelvic exams to check for abnormal cells of cervical cancer.
Now a more high-tech test has been added to doctors’ diagnostic tools for cervical cancer. It detects DNA from the human papilloma virus (HPV), and some think this test will ultimately replace the 65-year-old Pap smear. Other medical researchers believe a combination of the two assays would provide the best approach to diagnose and treat cervical cancer at its earliest stages.
HPV, the primary cause of cervical cancer, is not one virus but many closely related subtypes often grouped by the different diseases they cause. When transmitted sexually, some HPV produce benign genitals warts or asymptomatic cervical infections that can resolve on their own without treatment. At least two HPV subtypes, identified as HPV-18 and HPV-16, possess the unique capacity to mutate normal cervical cells after infection and eventually transform them into cancer.
Authors from a Canadian study of more than 10,000 women found that the HPV test detected precancerous cervical lesions in 94.6% of the women with early cervical cancer compared to 55.4% of women detected by a Pap smear.
