Screening for High-Risk Human Papillomavirus Using Passive, Self-Collected Menstrual Blood

In plain language

A prospective study of 153 women at Stanford comparing a Q-Pad menstrual sample with clinician-collected cervical specimens and self-collected vaginal swabs, all tested with the same clinical HPV assay. 106 women provided both a Q-Pad and a clinician sample. When the two were collected within two months, the Q-Pad detected high-risk HPV in 43 of 46 women whose clinician sample was positive (93.5%), and it was also positive in 12 women whose clinician sample was negative. 94% of respondents (78 of 83) said they would prefer the Q-Pad to clinician collection, and 22.9% of participants opted out of the vaginal self-swab as uncomfortable.

Key numbers

106

Women with paired Q-Pad and clinician-collected samples

43 of 46

Clinician-positive samples also positive on the Q-Pad, collected within two months

94%

Respondents who would prefer the Q-Pad (78 of 83)

What it means

Passively collected menstrual blood carried enough viral DNA to detect high-risk HPV without a speculum, with the best agreement when samples were collected close in time. HPV testing on the Q-Pad is being evaluated in the EQUIP clinical trial and does not replace screening today.