I've never had a bad Pap smear, but still I wonder if I ought to have this done just to be on the safe side. While this test could be a great new advance, not everyone needs it.
Pap smears are a proven lifesaver, helping to spot cervical cancer when it's still treatable.
While Pap smears detect changes in cervical cells, HPV tests spot the cause of those changes, the virus. The test is easy to do and the idea of collecting a sample in the privacy of your own home is attractive. But the real advantage of self-collecting is that it could offer screening for cervical cancer to parts of the world that are underserved by medical care. Today, Hybrid Capture II is approved by the FDA for follow-up testing of women with abnormal Pap smears. The idea is to see whether or not a high-risk type of HPV infection is present, and causing the abnormal Pap smear.