Preliminary results from one of Australia’s largest randomised controlled trials suggest that HPV-based screening used in the National Cervical Cancer Screening Program is more effective at detecting pre-cancerous changes than the Pap Smear program it replaced.
If the early results from the Compass Trial are confirmed when it concludes in 2026, this would allow more women and people with a cervix to be treated before these changes develop into cervical cancer, alleviating for many people the trauma of a cancer diagnosis, and ultimately saving more lives.
The update, from the Australian Centre for the Prevention of Cervical Cancer and the Daffodil Centre, will be shared with 150 Australian and international screening experts, researchers, and policymakers today in Melbourne at Cancer Screening: Evidence, challenges and solutions, organised by the Public Health Association of Australia (PHAA). Sessions will cover cancers including lung, breast, and melanoma and skin cancer.
The cancer screening symposium is the first of its kind to be convened on the continent. Delegates will discuss the latest evidence and initiatives to promote early cancer detection, and whether there is evidence to support changes to screening programs, or the introduction of new screening technologies.
The symposium’s international keynote speaker is Professor Bob Steele CBE, who led the United Kingdom’s demonstration pilot that was used to inform the decision to introduce national bowel cancer screening programs throughout the UK.
The Professor of Surgery at the University of Dundee is the Clinical Director of the Scottish Bowel Cancer Screening Programme. Prof Steele was also the Chair of UK National Screening Committee for six years until 2022, and has significant expertise in screening evidence, emerging screening technologies, and the latest proposals.
HPV based screening replaced the Pap test in 2017, and it has previously been estimated that the new approach will protect up to 30% more people. Cervical screening tests are recommended for women or people with a cervix who are aged between 25 and 74, who have ever had any sexual contact.
Research indicates that members of the LGBTQIA+ community have lower cancer screening rates than the general population due to hesitancy in seeking out medical care for fear of discrimination.
In Western Australia the Screening Saves Lives campaign is a collaboration between National Bowel Cancer Screening Program, BreastScreen WA, and the WA Cervical Cancer Prevention Program, with a focus on the LGBTQIA+ community.
Read some stories of the people featured in the campaign, including Geri and Stephanie, Alyce and Liz.
OIP Staff
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