An observational study from China finds that menstrual blood can be used to screen for HPV, the human papillomavirus, which causes 90% of all cervical cancer.
Authors of the study hope their results could provide women with a less invasive, more convenient way to be screened for cervical cancer, which is expected to kill 4,200 US women this year.
Women in the study provided a sample of menstrual blood collected on a mini pad, a sterile cotton strip attached to the absorbent area of a standard sanitary pad. Study participants also underwent two rounds of traditional cervical screening, in which a clinician collected cells from the cervix and also tested the cervix for HPV, according to a study published yesterday by The BMJ.
The study found both methods equally successful in diagnosing precancers, which typically required treatment to prevent them from becoming cancerous. Both methods accurately detected 92% to 95% of samples with precancerous cells. Similarly, both types of screening accurately identified 89% to 90% of samples without precancer.
"Compared with clinician collected sampling and invasive self-sampling, non-invasive menstrual blood sampling enhances acceptability and feasibility for large scale screening," the study authors wrote. "These findings support the integration of menstrual blood based HPV testing into national cervical cancer screening guidelines.”
The study included 3,068 women age 20 to 54 years old with regular menstrual cycles. Women were enrolled from September 2021 to January 2025 at seven sites in Hubei province, including four urban areas and three rural locations. Researchers came from several universities and hospitals in the provinces of Hubei and Guandong, including the Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan.
Making cancer screenings more accessible
One in four women in the United States aren’t up to date on cervical cancer screenings, putting them at higher risk of developing the disease and dying from it. That’s led researchers to search for ways to make it easier for people to be tested for HPV.
The US Department of Health and Human Services last month recommended home screening as an effective alternative to being examined in a clinic. Women in rural areas often have trouble getting to a clinic for screening. Many women also find pelvic exams to be uncomfortable, painful, or embarrassing.
The new collection method would be available only to women who are menstruating, said Rebecca Perkins, MD, obstetrician and gynecologist and investigator at the Woman, Mother and Baby Research Institute at Tufts Medical Center, who wasn’t involved in the new study.
Perkins said a large fraction of people at risk for cervical cancer would not be able to use this screening method, including post-menopausal women, those with irregular menstrual cycles, and those who use hormonal methods that suppress menstruation for contraception, gender dysphoria, or treatment of gynecologic diseases.
