Test at home cervical cancer kits?

[Buttonsandroses]

Tempted to buy one. It all looks proffesional. I have alot of anxiety around going for a smear. Therefore being able to do the test at home would be a massive relief. Has anyone ever bought one.

@firstimemamma with all due respect I don't think superdrug would be selling it if it wasn't safe. A team of drs are behind the scenes. The labs the same used by hospitals. The results go to my GP. I'm not saying I won't have a smear in the future. I'm saying I want to take my own sample for the drs to look at. It has been researched for this purpose so people can feel comfortable and have a choice

Yeah because asking your doctor is always the best idea.

Personally i think the op has had lots of good advice! And quite a bit of scaremongering

I did consider doing this as I had put off having a smear due to various issues. But I was more concerned about having HPV and then having to wait for the smear results, so I bit the bullet and went last week.

The people who tell you to woman up etc have no idea how traumatic it can be for some people. I was really lucky that I had a great nurse who spent a long time with me in order to get the sample. If I hadn't had that then yes I would have got the home test. Within 5 to 10 years I suspect most of us will be home testing for HPV, as the NHS is moving away from checking the cells if you are HPV negative.

It is good that there are now options for people who are unable to get the test done. But for people who are worried about the pain, I can say that they are significantly less painful than they were with the metal speculum and wooden scraper combination of the past.

Go to your doctor, it’s not just the test it’s the results, sometime you need perspective on the results. And if they came back inconclusive it’s dodgy in any way you’d only have to go and get one done by your GPnor nurse practitioner anyway

@Wingedserpentfliesbynight
Your post is actually laughable.
Do you think the results are looked at by some bloke in a garage with a 1980s microscope.
Hahahaha

It won't be dodgy I've ordered through the superdrugs doctors. It's a real health test. An option to pay for it yourself and do it at your convinience. The GP gets a copy of my results too. I'm sure it's easy enough for us to do at home or else they wouldn't be on sale. They would of been tested many times before being allowed on sale for the public?

I was diagnosed with Stage 3B Cervical Cancer two years ago. It was in my cervix, external to my cervix, uterus, lymph nodes and the team debated about my ovaries so treated that area too. It was grade three which is the most aggressive AND it was NOT caused by HPV. Thankfully I’m still alive, but my life will never be the same. Oh and I had received the cervical cancer vaccine.

A home test kit wouldn’t of picked this up as it only tests for HPV. @PanamaPattie the home collection tests in Australia can only be provided to you after consultation with a GP and in limited circumstances- you can’t just go and purchase one at the chemist. The home swab only checks for HPV, whereas a GP sample also collects cells and if HPV is found then the lab can immediately test for any changes. If HPV is found on a home sample you then have to have a cervical cell sample anyway, so why not just have the Pap smear (although I appreciate in a small number of people this may not be easy to do).

If your having the symptoms you describe you are better to see the GP and discuss and have any tests they order. I would think that any reputable GP would probably get you to have a full smear to rule anything out when investigating (if only to cover themselves) rather than accept your home test results.

Australia is moving (has moved?) to the swab for HPV check to replace the full Pap smear, but the GP still looks at the cervix to check for any unusual changes (I still have quarterly Pap smears with my gynaecological oncologist, and will not be moved to the HPV check system).

I always had private health insurance in the UK and now Australia, however reading the medical threads reminds me to be grateful for the Australian medical system (Medicare), where (in most places) you can get a doctor’s appointment that day and test results two days later.

Book an appointment with your GP now to get expert advice on your symptoms.

Good luck.

I'm a bit confused or maybe more concerned with the changes to smear tests.

I had to have a colposcopy, biopsy and LLETZ treatment 11 months ago as I had 'high grade severe' CIN3 changes. However, I tested negative for HPV.

What if they refused to smear test me in future because the HPV came back negative, the abnormal cells could still develop? Would they just leave me for it to potentially develop in to whatever else?

OP - it’s also not about “using the same labs”, it’s about getting a quality sample. As a side note in Australia most labs aren’t certified for home treating either.

What if you don't do it correctly or only swab part of it missing the area that has pre cancer cells. The next time you do it your too late. A smear saved my life 2 years ago this week and that was all because when doing it the nurse said she didn't think she covered all areas so was doing it again. My kids still have a mother for that very reason.

What if you don't do it correctly or only swab part of it missing the area that has pre cancer cells.

This isn’t a test of cervical cells. It’s for hpv.

@Namemcnamechangeagain I'm so sorry you went through that. I do understand this test isn't 100% effective. I've had a good look into it. I've been going back and forth to the go for months now. I've been giving the pill which made me ill. I was taken off that and given transexamic acid. The Dr took two years to realise I was anemic. She's finally put me on iron tablets and accepted I don't have anxiety. I've been telling them I feel twinges in my ovary. I also was told I had a fibroid when I was pregnant. I also was told by one of my scans my ovary was folded but nothing more was said about that. My partner actually has health insurance at work and me and the kids are on it. He's trying to find out how how to sort it out so I can perhaps go private to have a scan. We presume it will be quicker than going through the GP. Our GP surgery used to have 5 doctors. To have left in the last year and they haven't been able to replace them. It can take 6 weeks to get a routine appointment now. It just feels like such a long road to get anywhere with them. I just feel like if I have to wait 6-weeks for an appointment and then the doctor wants me to have a smear done. It will take weeks for the results to come back. Then it'll be another appointment before waiting many more weeks for a scan to come through. I just thought this might be a good way of getting it done a little bit quicker.

I hope you are well now.

@Namemcnamechangeagain

It is about it being a proffesional job though. You take a sample. The lab that the NHS trust and use will test it. Then real drs look at your results and send it to your GP. Is it not just going private instead of having it free? Others have stated on here that they don't always do the smear now unless the cells contain the hpv virus?

@Butterfly3005 It is concerning that they are only testing for HPV now and only those that are positive will have the cytology checked.

Jo's Trust is saying this "It is possible to have cervical cell changes without having high-risk HPV. However, it is unlikely that these cell changes would develop into cervical cancer. The National Screening Committee recommended the move to HPV primary screening because it is more accurate at showing who is at higher risk of cell changes that may develop into cervical cancer."
www.jostrust.org.uk/information/cervical-screening/primary-hpv-testing

It does seem like the people who having the rarer forms of cancer are left in limbo. Surely people should be kicking off about this?

That’s not what the screening programme is for monica. It’s to maximise the number of women surviving cervical cancer. All the evidence shows that primary hpv testing is best for this.

It is possible to have cervical cell changes without having high-risk HPV

Cell changes happen for other reasons.

However, it is unlikely that these cell changes would develop into cervical cancer

^ This.

I've read a lot of stuff on the screening programme and I do get that for 99.7% of cervical cancers HPV is the cause (according to various websites I've read). However, with the cytology screening that used to be done, 0.3% of women will get cancers that will only be obvious once they get symptoms, whereas some of these used to be picked up during the routine screening (as we can see from the examples in this thread).

Sorry, didn't mean to derail, but from all the things I've read, there doesn't seem to be any mention of those cases which would have been picked up and now won't be with the change in only testing for HPV now.

I’m late to the discussion...but would urge everyone to read the excellent, and accurate posts from Purpledaisies.
I’m a consultant gynaecologist specialising in Sexual and Reproductive Health, and used to work in gynae cancer.

England as of this month has moved to HPV testing ONLY of the cervical smear sample, which goes no further if HPV negative.
The RCOG is supporting this to change to an NHS self-taken HPV vaginal swab, which for the majority of women will be negative. If positive, then yes, a smear would be needed.
Clearly for many women a self-taken swab is simpler, more acceptable if they find speculums difficult for a variety of (very common) reasons, and can be done without input from a clinician, so saving NHS time and money.

Yes, there will be a very small minority of women that develop an atypical cancer unrelated to HPV. That has always been the case with traditional smear testing, which missed some cancers.

Yes, the self-taken swab would miss out visualisation of the cervix by a clinician. This would mean that harmless, non-cancer related changes (eg: cervical ectropion, polyp, Nabothian follicle) wont be seen. That’s fine, as most of these are asymptomatic variants of normal anatomy which do not need treating. If any of them were symptomatic (eg: large polyp causing bleeding after sex or between periods), then this should always be reported to your GP and you would be referred for colposcopy.
The rare cancer that advances without positive HPV result would also usually give symptoms (pain, pressure, offensive discharge, a normal bleeding) and should of course also be reported to GP for onward referral urgently. Sometimes sadly that’s not the case, but has always been so.
I’m afraid most smears are now done by relatively junior (often newly-qualified) practice nurseses, who may have no gynae experience or have ever seen a cervical cancer. The days of smears being done by an experienced GP or senior practice nurse, possibly along with a bimanual examination and gynaecological history, are long gone.
The vital part is that women are aware of abnormal symptoms to report, and that these are taken seriously by the GP when reported.

OP, if you feel that paying for an HPV swab is a viable alternative to not going for a smear at all, that’s absolutely your choice.

Oh, and has been pointed out above, the cervical (and any other) screening test is designed to stop as many women as possible from developing cervical cancer, from common and often reversible, precancerous changes.
Anyone with abnormal symptoms should not be “screened”, but referred immediately for diagnostic tests.

Thank you for your post. Self testing does seem to be the way to go. It is so much simpler than the whole making an appointment speculum and cell sample thing, when most of the cell samples will never be looked at.

Self-testing is used for bowel screening.

Every time I get mine done, I get told I have a cervical ectropian, and I always get told it is normal, and TBH it has add to my life one little bit.

Yes, melroses, I see lots of women who are worried sick that the practice nurse has told them they have “a tilted womb” or an erosion/ectropion at a smear. Even if the smear is normal, they are quite understandably worried as to what the significance is, and whether this represents precancerous change.
I’m never sure what the nurse hoped to convey, but seems to do more harm than if she’d said nothing, or explained clearly that everyone’s uterus is tilted either forward or back, or an ectropion is present in half of women, etc. It’s not as if you can until your uterus, is it?!

Untilt, not until!

@Buttonsandroses I'm interested. Could you let me know how you get on with the test?

I don’t understand how testing for HPV decides if you need a smear or not.

I’ve had abnormal cells removed by LLETZ before but I was HPV negative. If they only tested for HPV mine would have been missed surely?

@quince2figs thank you so much for your reply. That makes everything much clearer. I'm pleased it's changing as whilst it's a great test it causes alot of anxiety for people. You can't diagnose people on Mumsnet but would you think a Gp would refer me for a scan quicker if I have this done first? I often gets twinges and mild crampy sensations around my left ovary. My womb Area has felt mildly irritated and sore for a while now on and off. Sometimes I get a sharp shooting sensation going down the left near my ovary/bladder. Does this sound like a fibroid or cyst situation?

@arixo I will let you know no problem! It's £48 at superdrug which seems the cheapest price. I also got free postage.