Development and validation of novel, low-cost, and robust human papillomavirus (HPV) screening strategies are needed to address the disproportionate burden of cervical cancer in resource-limited areas of the world. A clinical trial published in the September issue of Cancer Prevention Research provides some important advances in establishing evidence for population-based screening using emerging lower-cost tests. The study both confirmed the comparability of the lower-cost careHPV (Qiagen) DNA test to a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved test and demonstrated that a new E6 oncoprotein low-cost test might be useful for screening in high-HPV-prevalence populations. The increased sensitivity of molecular high-risk HPV (HR-HPV) testing provides an advantage over Pap testing, but it is too complex and costly for use in low-resource areas. Lower-cost tests are in development and validation, including careHPV, a signal amplification DNA test for a pool of 14 HR-HPV genotypes, as well as the lateral flow immunoassay OncoE6 (Arbor Vita Corp.) that targets HPV E6 oncoproteins, which are typically overexpressed in the precancerous phenotype. The researchers conducted a large-scale clinical trial of both of these tests as well as evaluation of multiple screening strategies. More than 7,500 women (aged 25 to 65 years) living in rural China self-collected […]