{"title":"Diagnostic accuracy of menstrual blood for human papillomavirus detection in cervical cancer screening: A systematic review and meta-analysis","authors":"Prayash Paudel, Asutosh Sah","doi":"10.1016/j.advms.2026.09.004","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Purpose</h3><div>Cervical cancer is a major global health burden, disproportionately affecting women in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where access to traditional human papillomavirus (HPV) screening is limited. Menstrual blood (MB), a non-invasive and passively collectable biospecimen, may offer a culturally acceptable alternative. This review evaluates the diagnostic accuracy of MB-based high-risk HPV detection compared to clinician-collected cervical samples.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>We included diagnostic accuracy studies and randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating self-collected MB for high-risk HPV detection in asymptomatic women aged 25–65 years. Eligible studies reported sensitivity, specificity, or 2×2 data using clinician-collected cervical samples as the reference. We searched PubMed, Embase, and Google Scholar up to July 7, 2025. Risk of bias was assessed via QUADAS-3, and a bivariate random-effects model estimated pooled sensitivity and specificity. Certainty of evidence was assessed using GRADE.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Seven studies (n = 1297 participants; 586 reference-positive, 711 reference-negative) met inclusion criteria. The pooled sensitivity and specificity of MB-based HPV testing were 0.86 (95% CI: 0.80–0.90) and 0.90 (95% CI: 0.72–0.97), respectively. The diagnostic odds ratio was 56 (95% CI: 19–166), and the area under the hierarchical SROC curve was 0.90 (95% CI: 0.87–0.92), indicating high overall diagnostic performance. However, high heterogeneity (I<sup>2</sup> = 94%) and threshold effects were observed. No significant publication bias was detected (Deeks’ p = 0.62).</div></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><div>MB-based HPV testing demonstrates high diagnostic accuracy and emerges as a non-invasive alternative for cervical cancer screening, especially in underserved settings. Further validation in diverse populations is warranted.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7347,"journal":{"name":"Advances in medical sciences","volume":"71 2","pages":"Pages 330-340"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5000,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Advances in medical sciences","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1896112626000386","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2026/9/16 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"MEDICINE, RESEARCH & EXPERIMENTAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Purpose
Cervical cancer is a major global health burden, disproportionately affecting women in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where access to traditional human papillomavirus (HPV) screening is limited. Menstrual blood (MB), a non-invasive and passively collectable biospecimen, may offer a culturally acceptable alternative. This review evaluates the diagnostic accuracy of MB-based high-risk HPV detection compared to clinician-collected cervical samples.
Methods
We included diagnostic accuracy studies and randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating self-collected MB for high-risk HPV detection in asymptomatic women aged 25–65 years. Eligible studies reported sensitivity, specificity, or 2×2 data using clinician-collected cervical samples as the reference. We searched PubMed, Embase, and Google Scholar up to July 7, 2025. Risk of bias was assessed via QUADAS-3, and a bivariate random-effects model estimated pooled sensitivity and specificity. Certainty of evidence was assessed using GRADE.
Results
Seven studies (n = 1297 participants; 586 reference-positive, 711 reference-negative) met inclusion criteria. The pooled sensitivity and specificity of MB-based HPV testing were 0.86 (95% CI: 0.80–0.90) and 0.90 (95% CI: 0.72–0.97), respectively. The diagnostic odds ratio was 56 (95% CI: 19–166), and the area under the hierarchical SROC curve was 0.90 (95% CI: 0.87–0.92), indicating high overall diagnostic performance. However, high heterogeneity (I2 = 94%) and threshold effects were observed. No significant publication bias was detected (Deeks’ p = 0.62).
Conclusions
MB-based HPV testing demonstrates high diagnostic accuracy and emerges as a non-invasive alternative for cervical cancer screening, especially in underserved settings. Further validation in diverse populations is warranted.
期刊介绍:
Advances in Medical Sciences is an international, peer-reviewed journal that welcomes original research articles and reviews on current advances in life sciences, preclinical and clinical medicine, and related disciplines.
The Journal’s primary aim is to make every effort to contribute to progress in medical sciences. The strive is to bridge laboratory and clinical settings with cutting edge research findings and new developments.
Advances in Medical Sciences publishes articles which bring novel insights into diagnostic and molecular imaging, offering essential prior knowledge for diagnosis and treatment indispensable in all areas of medical sciences. It also publishes articles on pathological sciences giving foundation knowledge on the overall study of human diseases. Through its publications Advances in Medical Sciences also stresses the importance of pharmaceutical sciences as a rapidly and ever expanding area of research on drug design, development, action and evaluation contributing significantly to a variety of scientific disciplines.
The journal welcomes submissions from the following disciplines:
General and internal medicine,
Cancer research,
Genetics,
Endocrinology,
Gastroenterology,
Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine,
Immunology and Allergy,
Pathology and Forensic Medicine,
Cell and molecular Biology,
Haematology,
Biochemistry,
Clinical and Experimental Pathology.