New cervical screening regime ‘will save lives’

The number of women diagnosed with cervical cancer each year could be cut by a fifth thanks to a new screening regime due to be rolled out across the NHS in Scotland research suggests.

The new way of testing was found to be much more accurate than current smear tests inpickingupabnormalchanges to cells that could lead to cervical cancer. Furthermore, it means women known to be low risk could safely have cervical screening every five years rather than the current three.

The research, published in the British Medical Journal, examined a new NHS system whichmeanscervicalsamples are initially tested for human papilloma virus (HPV).

HPV is a common infection spread through close skinto-skin contact, usually during sex or oral sex. HPV causes almost all cases of cervical cancer and can also cause cancers in other genital areas.

At present, cervical screening samples are examined and those that show possible changes to cells are tested for HPV. But this is now being switched, with cells first tested for HPV infection, and only those that have the virus examined for abnormal cells. Researchers found the new method picked up more cases of pre-cancerous lesions.

First testing for HPV enabled detection of 50 per cent more abnormal changes at grade 2 or worse– cervical intraepithelial neoplasia or CIN 2 – and 40 per cent more at grade 3 or worse (CIN 3), plus 30 per cent more cases of cervical cancer.