Period blood test could offer a non-invasive cervical cancer screening option
A BMJ study in 3,068 Chinese women found that menstrual blood collected on a sanitary pad and strip could detect HPV and CIN2/3 with about 94.7% sensitivity, comparable to clinician-collected samples (≈92.1%), though specificity was lower. Negative predictive value and referral rates were similar between methods. The results suggest menstrual-blood testing could become a standardized, non-invasive alternative or supplement to cervical screening, but larger, more diverse trials are needed before clinical adoption.