An Australian study published Feb. 23 in BMJ suggested that women who have a test for the human papillomavirus (HPV) after receiving a borderline abnormal cervical smear result possess better psychosocial results over the long term than women who have a repeat smear test.

HPV testing for women with borderline cervical problems will soon be launched into the cervical screening program in sentinel sites across England and Wales, and is already available in the US, Europe and Australia.

Last month, Pulse claimed that HPV testing is also prepared to become the primary screening tool for cervical cancer in women over 35 in the UK, after the chair of the Department of Health's cervical screening advisory group said the move would be "very rational".

The study published in The Lancet Oncology suggested that HPV testing was better than either cytology alone or HPV testing combined with cytology at detecting cervical abnormalities.

The study involved 313 women in the age group of 16 to 70 with a borderline smear who were randomly assigned to one of three triage arms: HPV testing, a repeat smear test at six months, or the patient's informed choice of either test.

Dr Kristen McCaffrey, senior research fellow in public health at the University of Sydney quoted, "The findings suggest that there are no lasting psychosocial disadvantages to HPV triage, and in view of other potential advantages, the findings support the move towards HPV triage in the UK for women with borderline smear results".