Bringing new possibilities to cervical cancer screening

Nationally, roughly 25% of eligible women are not up to date on cervical cancer screening. But previous research suggests that self-collection could help to close that gap. Amboree was part of a team of researchers who conducted a randomized clinical trial of almost 2,500 women and found that self-collection more than doubled cervical cancer screening participation among persistently underscreened women.

That matters because cervical cancer is highly preventable when abnormalities are detected early. According to the American Cancer Society, five-year survival for localized cervical cancer is about 91%, but survival drops to 20% once the disease has spread.

“Cervical cancer is one of the most preventable cancers when screening occurs regularly,” Kesier said. “If self-collection helps even a portion of patients complete recommended screening who might otherwise delay or avoid testing, it could have a meaningful impact on early detection and prevention.”

Federal guideline updates and insurance coverage changes are paving the way for self-collection to become more widely available. Amboree noted that primary HPV testing with self-collection is now endorsed as an option under federal screening guidelines, and it is expected to gain broader insurance coverage beginning next year.

If the pilot is successful, it could lay the groundwork for larger implementation studies examining how self-collection could be sustainably integrated into clinical workflows, laboratory systems and electronic health records across the MUSC Health system.

For now, Amboree hopes the study keeps attention on the importance of cervical cancer screening and prevention.

“We have a cancer that we can prevent,” she said. “It’s a disease that we can intervene early on and have good outcomes. The more people we can reach with effective screening, the more cervical cancers and related deaths we can prevent.”