Testing Menstrual Blood Comparable in HPV Diagnostic Accuracy to Clinician-Collected Cervical Samples

MONDAY, Feb. 9, 2026 (HealthDay News) — For human papillomavirus (HPV) testing for detection of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2/3 or worse (CIN2+/CIN3+), minipad-collected menstrual blood shows comparable diagnostic accuracy to clinician-collected cervical samples, according to a study published online Feb. 4 in The BMJ.

Xun Tian, from the Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, China, and colleagues conducted a cross-sectional population-based study involving 3,068 women aged 20 to 54 years with regular menstrual cycles to compare the diagnostic accuracy of minipad-collected menstrual blood versus clinician-collected cervical samples to test for HPV in the detection of CIN2+/CIN3+.

The researchers found that minipad-based HPV testing showed a sensitivity of 94.7 percent for CIN2+ detection, which was comparable to the 92.1 percent sensitivity of clinician-based HPV testing. Minipad HPV testing showed lower specificity than clinician-based testing (89.1 versus 90.0 percent), but the negative predictive value was the same (99.9 percent). A similar positive predictive value was seen for both collection methods (9.9 versus 10.4 percent), and screening efficiency was also similar (10.1 versus 9.6 referrals per CIN2+ detected).

“These findings support the integration of menstrual blood-based HPV testing into national cervical cancer screening guidelines,” the authors write.

One author disclosed ties to Organon, Celmatix, and Exeltis.

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