NY times reports unanimous vote by FDA subcommittee to replace pap smears with HPV testing alone. prior to this being a new policy, has to be approved by FDA (which almost always happens), though many providers may not use this test alone unless approved by professional societies. the initial test would be done at age 25. for full article, click here
of note,
–approx cost (in houstin texas): $50 for pap, $150 for HPV
–only one of the hpv tests, the one by roche (not the most common one done), is approved
–the current guidelines (pap age 21-30 q3yrs, then combo pap/HPV after age 30 q5yrs), have consciously postponed hpv screening til age 30 because in younger sexually active women, these infections most often regress spontaneously and, if picked up by screening, could lead unnecessarily to more invasive followup procedures (eg culposcopy and maybe more).
see prior blog posted last year here.
geoff