First national HPV conference highlights advances in cancer prevention

The University of Cincinnati Cancer Center's Leeya Pinder spoke with Contemporary OB/GYN about the first US national human papillomavirus (HPV) conference held recently in Indianapolis.

Pinder, MD, a Cancer Center member and associate professor in the UC College of Medicine Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Division of Gynecologic Oncology, said the inaugural event brought together clinicians, public health professionals, patient advocates, survivors and industry leaders. The conference provided a platform for collaboration and the sharing of data and clinical advancements, she said, and had a strong focus on HPV's role in cancers such as cervical, oropharyngeal and anal cancers.

Attendees specifically discussed the promising development of HPV self-collection testing. Pinder is local principal investigator of the SHIP trial (Self-collection for HPV testing to Improve Cervical Cancer Prevention) testing whether samples self-collected by patients for HPV testing are as accurate and effective as clinic-collected samples. 

“It really gives people the opportunity to just do a vaginal swab or a cervico-vaginal swab so that they can get tested for high-risk HPV, which is usually the driver of cervical precancer and cervical cancer,” Pinder said. “What we’ve been trying to do over the last several years is prove that women can actually do HPV testing on their own.” 

Read or watch the Contemporary OB/GYN interview.

Read more about the SHIP trial.

Featured photo at top of HPV test form. Photo/iStock/Sefa Ozel.