Women in Pirkanmaa encouraged to participate in cervical cancer screening with home HPV self-sampling option

An increasing number of women are being encouraged to participate in cervical cancer screening, leading to a new option for some women in the Pirkanmaa region to conduct self-sampling at home. Samples taken at home will be sent to a laboratory for testing for high-risk HPV (human papillomavirus).

This initiative is part of a new study that began in June, aiming to determine if self-collected HPV samples are suitable for screenings and if they could boost engagement among women in participating. In 2021, 284,000 women were invited to free screenings, but 79,000 did not attend. According to Karolina Louvanto, the lead researcher, nearly half of cervical cancers diagnosed last year were found in women who had not participated in screenings.

Louvanto highlights that the challenge lies particularly with younger women, noting that self-sampling may improve participation rates. The study is conducted collaboratively by the Tampere University Hospital’s gynecology department and Fimlab Laboratories.

In Finland, all women aged 30-65 receive invitations for screenings every five years. In 2021, 72% of those invited participated. Women aged 30 and 35 are notably among those who often skip screenings.

Self-sampling at home is only offered to women who miss their initial screening invitation. In this process, a sample is taken from the vagina at home, testing only for high-risk HPV. By contrast, laboratory sampling includes a Pap test that looks for cell changes caused by HPV.

Around 2,500 women in Pirkanmaa will have the opportunity to try this home HPV sampling method, which is not currently available elsewhere in Finland. If the results are promising, it may become a viable option in cervical cancer screenings in the region.