■ HPV Infections Are a Serious Threat to Your Life
Cervical cancer is a type of cancer that often affects women. Therefore, HPV can be considered a silent killer of women. Approximately 80% of women who have had sexual intercourse will be infected with HPV at some point in their lives. While some HPV infections are not carcinogenic and clear up on their own, persistent infection with high-risk types of HPV is likely to result in the formation of cervical lesions, which can turn into cancer easily. In one sense, HPV is more life-threatening than AIDS because cervical cancer often presents no symptoms during the early stages, which may be a delay in diagnosis. Therefore, early diagnosis and treatment of HPV are extremely crucial to the prevention of cervical cancer.

■ Normal Pap does not mean Cancer-free
Pap smears are currently the most commonly used means of screening for cervical cancer. However, 30 to 40% of cervical lesions cannot be detected by using pap smears. Indeed, the last pap smears of approximately 30% of women with cervical cancer were found to be normal. According to the WHO, over 99% of cervical cancers are caused by HPV infection. Women infected with high-risk types of HPV have a higher risk of cervical cancer, and more than 7 in 10 cases of cervical cancer result from HPV16 or HPV18. Therefore, screening for these types of high-risk HPV is crucial to preventing cervical cancer.

■ Advantages of HPV Screening
SOFIVA GENOMICS offers Roche’s cobas® HPV screening test, which is the first and only screening test approved to replace pap smears as a primary screening tool for cervical cancer1 by the FDAs in both Taiwan and the US. This test screens for many high-risk types of HPV, including types 16 and 18, as well as 12 other high-risk types (31, 33, 35, 39, 45, 51, 52, 56, 58, 59, 66, and 68).
˙Provides type results for HPV 16 and HPV 18.
˙Does not cause cross reaction with other types of low-risk HPV.
˙Using the most sensitive real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay that is currently available. This type of PCR employs human β-globin as the internal control to prevent false negatives and eliminate uncertainty in test results.

Suitable for women who:

have had sexual intercourse

require testing for all indications of pap smears

■ HPV Screening

Step1. Consult a physician to obtain a comprehensive understanding of screening.

Step2. Physician collect samples in a special tube. Sample will deliver to the laboratory at room temperature (below 30℃).

Step3. The results will be available in 5 working days.

Step4. The physician explains the report and provides clinical recommendations.