BD announced that the BD Onclarity HPV Assay has officially been added to the American Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology (ASCCP) Enduring Risk-Based Management Guidelines, due to its ability to individually identify more high-risk types of HPV.
Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the cause of virtually all cervical cancer, but there are many different types or strains (also called “genotypes”) of HPV. The BD Onclarity HPV Assay employs extended genotyping, which allows for a more detailed analysis of the HPV types present in a person’s body.
The BD Onclarity HPV Assay with extended genotyping can identify six of the 14 cancer-causing HPV types individually and group the remaining seven into three pooled results. These nine results allow for more precise risk assessment, persistence-tracking and personalized treatment plans to align with the new clinical recommendations.
Upcoming ASCCP guidelines also support the use of self-collection methods for cervical cancer screening, which is also offered in a healthcare setting with the BD Onclarity HPV assay. This makes it easier for women and people with a cervix to get screened, especially those who might face barriers to traditional screening methods, such as lack of time or discomfort with pelvic exams.
The new guidelines integrate new technologies and approaches to improve cancer prevention for high-risk individuals and decrease unnecessary procedures in lower-risk individuals. The guidelines recognize that extended genotyping results provide additional risk stratification beyond a pooled high-risk result and that repeated detection of the same HPV type, even a lower-risk strain, is associated with a much higher risk of cervical pre-cancer compared to a single-time point detection.
ASCCP indicated that the guidelines will soon be used to update the popular ASCCP mobile application.
