The Cobas test costs as little as £15 per test and is hoped to be available in Doctors surgeries within a year. The test would replace the smear, which fails to detect cancer for 1 in 3 women, and will return test results to the patients the same day of testing. The Cobas test looks for HPV (which causes uncontrollable cell division) rather than the smear which looks for abnormal cell growth.
In a trial of 47 000 women, aged 30+, 10% were detected with HPV after the getting the 'all clear' from the smear test. this trial suggest success, however further testing is needed before it is to replace the smear and be available on the NHS.
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