Vinegar Plus HPV Test Identifies Women at Risk.(papillomavirus )

2001 FEB 22 - (NewsRx.com) -- A lab test for the human papillomavirus (HPV) combined with a visual inspection of the cervix could identify pre-cancerous lesions and vastly reduce the number of false-positives among women at high risk for cervical cancer in developing countries, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University, and the University of Zimbabwe.

The visual inspection/HPV test combination accurately detected 132 (63%) of the 208 cases of precancerous disease in a sample population of African women. By contrast, combining a Pap smear plus an HPV test detected 84 cases (40%), and combining a visual inspection plus a Pap smear detected only 75 cases (36%).

Performing the first two tests together also reduced by up to 62% the number of false-positives - women who test positive for cervical cancer and who later are deemed not to have it. False-positives are somewhat common when using only visual inspection, but researchers say reducing them might result in a screening program that could better separate those who should be offered treatment from those who don't need it.

Currently, the lack of money and laboratories in poor nations presents a significant barrier to increasing cervical cancer screening and lowering the death rate from the disease. The data were released according to a study published in the January 2001 issue of the International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics.

"Although our results demonstrate a definite potential for combining HPV testing with visual inspection, the test would have to became almost as easy and inexpensive as a take-home pregnancy test for it to become a really useful part of a combination," said Paul D. Blumenthal, MD, MPH, Johns Hopkins and lead author of the study.

"Because underdeveloped nations lack the resources needed to implement the kind of laboratory-based screening that has become customary in the United States, alternatives have been sought. Washing the cervix with a vinegar solution (which turns precancerous tissue white) and then inspecting it visually has been shown to be effective and attractive. However, visual inspection alone yields a high number of false-positives."

During the study, nurse-midwives at 15 primary care clinics in Zimbabwe screened 2,199 African women for cervical cancer, performing the vinegar/visual inspection method, Pap smears, and HPV tests on each. The women ranged in age from 25 to 55 and were not pregnant. Although all ...