Do-it-yourself human papillomavirus (HPV) tests could enable more than a million women in England to be screened for cervical cancer over the next three years.
The kit, which is quick and easy to use, works by detecting HPV, a group of viruses which cause no symptoms but which can lead to cervical cancer.
The YouScreen trial, run by King’s College London, provided self-sampling kits to women who were at least six months overdue for their cervical screening.
The results suggest that 400,000 more women every year could undergo screening if the test is rolled out.
Cervical cancer screening rates have dropped in recent years amid disruption caused by the Covid pandemic.
Experts say that women may often refuse testing due to a lack of convenient appointments, embarrassment and concerns about pain.
For the trial, women used a vaginal swab to take a sample at home or at their GP surgery.
Those who took a test at home posted off their kit for free to a laboratory.
Lead investigator Dr Anita Lim, from King’s College London, said: “Self-sampling has been hailed as a game-changer for cervical screening and we now have evidence in a UK population to show that it really is. Women who don’t come for regular screening are at the highest risk of developing cervical cancer.
“Cervical screening participation has been falling in England for over two decades; currently almost a third of eligible women aren’t getting screened regularly and in some parts of London this is as high as 50 per cent.
“It is crucial that we make cervical screening easier by introducing innovations like self-sampling, alongside the current cervical screening programme, to help protect more people from this highly preventable cancer. Self-sampling can do this by offering people choice and convenience.”
The trial marks the first-time that self-sampling has been offered within the NHS cervical screening programme.
Less than two-thirds (62.6 per cent) of women in London were up to date with their screening for 2021/22 – well below the NHS target of 80 per cent and the lowest rate in England.
Around 3,200 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and more than 800 die from the disease each year in the UK.
Self-sampling has already been introduced in several countries with the aim of increasing cervical screening participation rates including the Netherlands, Australia, Denmark and Sweden.
The trial included over 17,604 kits being sent to people directly through the mail, of which 13 per cent were returned.
Some 10,849 women were also offered a kit when speaking to their GP surgery about something else, of whom 85 per cent accepted and 6,061 (56 per cent) returned a self-sample either through the post or took the test at the surgery.
Nearly two-thirds (64 per cent) of those who returned a sample were from ethnic minority groups and 60 per cent were from deprived populations.
The researchers said routine rollout of the kits in England could increase screening coverage from 69.9 per cent to 77.3 per cent.
NHS director of screening and vaccination, Deborah Tomalin, said: “It’s extremely promising that this study suggests simple DIY swab tests could have a really positive impact in supporting more women to take part in cervical screening from their own homes, and the NHS will now be working with the UK National Screening Committee to consider the feasibility of rolling this out more widely across England.
“In the meantime, if you are invited for cervical screening by the NHS, it’s vital that you come forward – it could save your life and remains vital towards our ambition of eradicating cervical cancer in England within the next two decades.”
The study was published in the journal eClinicalMedicine on Wednesday.
