Study: HPV Test More Accurate Than Pap Smears

Torino, Italy (AHN) - A new study confirms earlier findings that human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA-based test are more accurate than Pap smears in finding precancerous tumors.

HPV test was known to detect more precancerous lesions than Pap smears (cytology) but it was not clear whether HPV test would lead to patient's treatment whose immune system would resist infections.

Italian researchers, led by Guglielmo Ronco, M.D., Ph.D., of CPO Piemonte in Torino, Italy, and colleagues found out in the study of almost 50,000 women that HPV test, when compared to Pap smears, identified almost twice as many premalignant lesions. In women 35 to 60 years old, the HPV test was more likely to detect more cervical lesions and in women ages 25 to 34, the HPV test seemed to identify more infections that resolved themselves.

The researchers recommend that it is best for younger women with positive HPV to be retested in 12 months rather than referred for colposcopy.

"It seems clear that an HPV DNA-based approach to primary screening is a very attractive option that should be actively developed and evaluated," the authors wrote.

This study was published March 25, 2008 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.