MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Cervical cancer is one of the more preventable kinds of cancer. It still kills thousands of women every year. Now, there's a new breakthrough in the fight against this disease - a home screening test. NPR's Katia Riddle reports.
KATIA RIDDLE, BYLINE: Of all the oncology patients she treats, the ones with cervical cancer are some that bother Dr. Alexi Wright the most.
ALEXI WRIGHT: It's just incredibly frustrating to meet young women dying from a disease that they didn't have to have.
RIDDLE: Wright is a physician with Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. She works in gynecological oncology.
WRIGHT: And it's really our failure as a medical field. Here, we have tools. You know, we know exactly what to do, and they're quite good.
RIDDLE: One of those tools - early screening.
WRIGHT: We know that more than 50% of women who are diagnosed with cervical cancer have missed cervical cancer testing and screening.
RIDDLE: Nearly all cervical cancers are caused by a common virus called HPV. Most people with this virus will not get cancer, but just knowing that someone is at an increased risk means doctors can monitor them more closely and have a greater chance of catching it early. Typically, screening for HPV begins with a trip to the doctor's office and a pap smear, which nearly any woman who's had this test can tell you is not on their list of favorite things to do.
KARA EGAN: It's just not a comfortable experience.
RIDDLE: Kara Egan is the CEO of Teal Health. The company has developed a new test that women can do at home by themselves. Egan says the idea is to remove not only the discomfort of the test, but barriers around convenience.
EGAN: It's hard to find an appointment, right? It's hard to find time in your day for that appointment - right? - whether it's leaving work or finding child care.
RIDDLE: The test recently earned FDA approval. It's designed so that a woman can collect a sample at home using a vaginal wand.
EGAN: It takes, on average, less than five minutes to collect your whole sample. You put it back in the mail in the pre-labeled envelope that we give you. It goes to the lab. The lab processes it again on the same exact tests that would be down in the doctor's office.
RIDDLE: Experts say these tests are similarly effective to those at the doctor's office. With this model, telehealth clinicians are available to help interpret the results.
EGAN: We'll tell you when the next time is that you're supposed to be screening again. And then if you have abnormal results or a positive result, we will also have that next follow-up appointment where we'll explain your results.
RIDDLE: The test is only right now offered to people in California, but Teal Health is planning on making it available across the country and working to integrate it into primary care settings. Some clinicians say they are excited about at-home screening options, but they caution that screening is only the first step in preventing cervical cancer. Again, Dr. Alexi Wright.
WRIGHT: It's absolutely important that if there are positive results, they're followed up on.
RIDDLE: Wright says, if people catch cervical cancer early enough, it is very treatable. This disease is often slow-growing. Unfortunately, some patients who need further testing will still have to endure the dreaded speculum exam. The process of testing is similar to mail-in colon cancer screenings.
WRIGHT: If it's positive, you still need a colonoscopy. And similarly, if this is positive, you still need a colposcopy, usually.
RIDDLE: Colposcopy is a test that allows for a closer look at the cervix with a speculum. While it does not look like these uncomfortable tests will be eliminated completely, at-home testing could allow people to have fewer of them and, Wright says, fewer cases of this kind of cancer overall.
WRIGHT: But it's the one disease that should be eradicated in our lifetime because we have - you know, we have testing, we have treatment, and we have prevention.
RIDDLE: Now, says Wright, we just need the will. Katia Riddle, NPR News.
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