Testing for HPV, the human papillomavirus linked to cervical cancer, can predict which women will stay cancer-free for a decade or more, a new study shows. While both a positive HPV test and an abnormal result on a traditional Pap smear predicted which women would get precancerous lesions within two years of testing, the HPV test continued to predict which women were at risk for 10 to 18 years later, said study co-author Dr. Attila Lorincz, a professor of molecular epidemiology at Queen Mary University of London.
