Update on Primary HPV screening
Maggie Cruickshank looks at developments in the introdyction of HPV testing as a primary screening tool within the UK and elsewhere.
In the NHSCSP cytology is as good as it can be. Studies such as Artistic as well as Dutch and Italian studies have proven the additional benefit of HPV screening in terms of picking up disease earlier.
The reduction in specificity will be challenging for colposcopists but if a woman is HR HPV negative she has a low risk of developing cervical cancer.