The Pap Test You Still Need

For women getting routine pap smear screening, alert, this basic tests have been shown to miss disease in about 50% of cases. Getting repeat testing, meaning at the intervals your gyno suggests helps to catch cancer before it gets to that stage, but we now know that we can do better.  If you have a Normal (Negative) Pap and a Negative  high risk HPV test your chance of getting CIN II or III (moderate or severe dysplasia) in the next three years is very remote. So good reason to get that test! And which test, now there are new test for just the most high risk of the cervix infecting HPV viruses, called the cobas HPV test will specifically test for the HPV 16,18 as well as the other viruses and it is both approved and in many laboratories. It is very important because women who have HPV 16+ are twice as likely to have high grade cervical dysplasia, a CIN 2 or worse than even women who had tested positive for the other high risk HPV viruses. Getting HPV testing, especially if you are over the age of 30 is important to improve the accuracy and predictability of your pap smear. Knowing what HPV viruses you are positive or negative for can allow you and your gyno to have more personalized clinical care, and potentially extend the intervals of your pap smear out if you are negative, and has even been shown to reduce your  anxiety when women know their HPV status. In fact it may even reduce your partner's anxiety as well! The Women's Health Practice Research Division has participated in the Athena Clinical Trial which has developed this test. In addition to wanting our patients to understand the test we also to once again, shake the hands of all of those committed women who participated in this trial for their important role in women's health research. Other tests on the horizons, watch our site for new studies that will be enrolling! Updated 3/1/12