At-home HPV testing boosts cervical cancer screening participation

Mailed at-home self-sampling for human papillomavirus (HPV) testing increases cervical cancer screening participation in underscreened populations by almost threefold, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research, held from April 5 to 10 in San Diego.

Jane R. Montealegre, Ph.D., from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, and colleagues evaluated the effectiveness of mailed at-home self-sampling for HPV testing in a safety-net health system setting. The analysis included data from 2,115 patients who were randomly assigned to one of the three following arms: telephone recall to provider-performed screening (usual care; arm 1); telephone recall + mailed self-sampling kit for HPV testing (arm 2); or telephone recall + mailed self-sampling kit + telephone-based patient navigation (arm 3).

The researchers found that among participants, the median time since last screening test was 9.5 years. Screening participation across arms 1, 2, and 3 was 15.3, 44.0, and 51.4 percent, respectively. Compared with usual care (arm 1), the relative incidence of screening in arms 2 and 3 was 2.90 and 3.36, respectively. For arm 3 versus arm 2, the relative incidence of screening was 1.16.

“After U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval, self-sampling for high-risk-HPV testing has the potential to dramatically increase participation in cervical cancer screening in underserved populations,” the authors write.

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