TUESDAY, April 01, 2003 (HealthDayNews) -- A test to detect the virus that is the most common cause of cervical cancer has won expanded use from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The approval could mean that the $50 test is made available to any American woman over 30 who undergoes a Pap examination.
The HPV DNA test identifies 13 high-risk types of the human papillomavirus (HPV), which can cause cell changes in the cervix that can be a precursor to cancer in some women, the FDA says. HPV infects up to 20 percent of the sexually active U.S. population at any one time, the agency adds.
The FDA initially approved the test, manufactured by Digene Corp., for limited use in March 2000 for testing women who had abnormal Pap results.
Some 50 million American women get Pap tests each year. The American Cancer Society projects that 12,000 women will be diagnosed in 2003 with cervical cancer and 4,100 will die from it. The disease is preventable and curable if caught early, the FDA says.
For more information about HPV, visit the American Cancer Society. To learn more about cervical cancer, see the National Cancer Institute.
