Urine test could prevent cervical cancer

New research has indicated that urine testing may be as effective as the smear test at preventing cervical cancer.

Led by Dr Emma Crosbie and published in BMJ Open, the University of Manchester study found that urine testing was just as good as the cervical smear at picking up high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV), the virus that causes cervical cancer.

Researchers claim that a urine test could help increase the numbers of women who are screened for cervical cancer, which affects more than 3,000 women every year in the UK. It could also have a role in the developing world, where cervical cancer is up to 15 times more common and smear testing largely non-existent.

Cervical cancer is most common in women aged 30 to 35 years. However, the precancerous stage is detectable in the 10 years before this, when up to a third of women fail to attend for their smear test.

Crosbie said: “We’re really very excited by this study, which we think has the potential to significantly increase participation rates for cervical cancer screening in a key demographic group. Many younger women avoid the NHS cervical cancer screening programme because they find it embarrassing or uncomfortable, particularly if they have gynaecological conditions like endometriosis.

“These results provide exciting proof of principle that urine HPV testing can pick up cervical pre-cancer cells, but we need to trial it on a greater number of women before it can be used in the NHS. We hope that is going to happen soon.

“Urine is very simple to collect and most hospitals in the developed and developing world have access to the lab equipment to process and test the samples. Let us hope this is a new chapter in our fight against cervical cancer, a devastating and pernicious disease.”