HPV testing may replace Pap smears for primary screening

Using human papillomavirus (HPV) testing is likely to replace Papanicolaou (Pap) testing for primary screening for cervical cancer for a variety of reasons—detection of the etiologic factor should predate the development of disease; urine testing for HPV may remove patient barriers to screening; and reduced interpretation error. This study can’t really provide the kind of data to support this, however. It is even more likely that vaccination against HPV may render both these technologies obsolete. (LOE=2b)