Cervical cancer screening tests could soon be done at home – in a move experts say would be game changing. NHS leaders are looking at making quick and easy-to-use self-testing kits available in England , leading to around 400,000 more people being tested every year. The test detects human papillomavirus (HPV), a group of viruses which cause no symptoms but which can lead to cervical cancer.
About 13 high-risk types of HPV are known to cause 99.7% of all cervical cancers. Figures show cervical screening uptake is declining, particularly among younger women.
Testing may be missed due to a lack of convenient appointments, embarrassment and worries about the test causing pain. In the King’s College London YouScreen trial, the biggest to date, women used a vaginal swab – like a long cotton bud – to take a sample themselves, either at home or in their GP practice, before posting their kit off for free to a laboratory. Other countries such as the Netherlands , Australia, Denmark and Sweden have already introduced the self-testing kits.
The introduction of an HPV jab is helping to prevent cervical cancer but women who haven’t been vaccinated still need to attend screening every three to five years depending on their age. What is cervical cancer? Cervical cancer is a cancer found anywhere in the cervix – the opening between the vagina and the womb – and is usually caused by an infection from certain types of human papillomavirus (HPV), according to the NHS. Most people w.