The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) is marking International Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Awareness Day with a video explaining its latest study on the most effective ways of using HPV testing to prevent cervical cancer. Almost all cases of cervical cancer are caused by HPV infection. More than 660\u00a0000 women developed cervical cancer and nearly 350\u00a0000 women died of cervical cancer in 2022.<\/p>\r\n
In the video, Dr Smita Joshi of Prayas, a non-profit organization based in Pune, India, presents the results of the study, which was a randomized controlled trial comparing two strategies of screening for HPV infection in women living with HIV. Women living with HIV are more than 6 times as likely to develop cervical cancer as women who are HIV-negative. The goal of the trial was to test whether the most recent guidelines from the World Health Organization (WHO) recommending using triage for all HPV-positive women living with HIV, which were based on a favourable benefit-to-harm ratio observed in a modelling exercise, hold up under real-world conditions.<\/p>\r\n
The trial analysed whether an HPV screen, triage, and treat strategy was as effective as an HPV screen and treat strategy to clear HPV infection in women living with HIV. The results of the study, published in Nature Communications<\/em>, provide concrete evidence from the field to support the WHO recommendation, reinforcing the guidelines and strengthening a key pillar of the WHO Cervical Cancer Elimination Initiative.<\/p>\r\n