New HPV Test for Primary Screening and Cervical Cancer Screening Programme

As the new cobas HPV test from Roche is accepted for the national cervical cancer screening programme in England for use at triage, further research also supports the use of Roche’s cobas HPV test in ‘primary’ screening as part of a more sensitive and more efficient strategy in the fight against cervical cancer. Data from a sub-analysis of the ATHENA
(Addressing THE Need for Advanced HPV Diagnostics) landmark study, recently published online in The Lancet Oncology, demonstrated that the Roche cobas HPV Test, could be used for the primary screening of cervical cancer. The data also showed that identifying women with HPV 16 and/or 18, the two genotypes detected in approximately 70 per cent of cervical cancers, provided important predictive information to determine a woman’s risk of cervical disease.

The cobas HPV Test is the only FDA and CE-IVD approved screening test available in the UK and globally, that individually identifies genotypes 16 and 18, while simultaneously detecting 12 other high-risk HPV genotypes. For laboratory professionals, the test also offers maximum ease of use, reliability and flexibility.