Women can self-test at home for cervical cancer virus, new guidelines say

By Nancy Lapid

Dec 4 (Reuters) – Women at average risk for cervical cancer can avoid unpleasant tests in doctors’ offices and instead safely test themselves at home for the virus that causes nearly all cases of the disease, the American Cancer Society said on Thursday.

The first at-home screening test for the human papillomavirus (HPV), made by Teal Health and approved in May by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, uses a vaginal swab, avoiding the traditional speculum-based exam done in the clinic. Women send the swabs to a certified lab for testing.

At least partly because speculum exams can be uncomfortable or even painful, “half of the women in the U.S. who have cervical cancer did not undergo a screening test in the past ten years,” Dr. Diane Harper of the University of Michigan,