Medical Diagnostic Laboratories now offers new HPV tests

Medical Diagnostic Laboratories, L.L.C., (MDL), a CLIA-certified, CAP-accredited laboratory which specializes in high complexity, state-of-the-art, automated DNA-based molecular analyses, announces that it is now offering new Human Papillomavirus (HPV) testing which utilizes cutting edge technology, including next- generation DNA sequencing platforms.

Each year, approximately 12,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer in the United States. Genital Human Papillomaviruses (HPV) are a group of more than 40 related viruses and, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), are the most common sexually transmitted infections. As many as 20 million people are thought to have an active HPV infection at any given time, and as many as 5.5 million new cases of genital HPV infection occur in the United States each year. Fourteen high-risk HPV genotypes are associated with most cases of cervical cancer and anal cancers; many vaginal, vulvar, and penile cancers; and some oropharyngeal cancers. Two genotypes, HPV 16 and HPV 18, are responsible for about 70% of all cervical cancers. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), and the American Cancer Society (ACS) now recommend HPV testing as part of routine cervical cancer screening for women 30 to 65 years of age, along with Pap smears, every 5 years.

Utilizing updated technologies, including next-generation DNA sequencing platforms, MDL offers a diverse panel for HPV testing with high accuracy genetic testing.

MDL provides minimally-invasive, simple specimen collection methods for HPV testing using either cervico-vaginal swabs for females utilizing the OneSwab^® or ThinPrep^® specimen collection platforms and urine for males utilizing the UroSwab^® specimen collection platform. The MDL HPV Type-Detect 3.0^® tests identify DNA from:

• 5 low-risk HPV genotypes: HPV 6, 11, 42, 43, 44.
• 14 high-risk genotypes: HPV 16, 18, 31, 33, 35, 39, 45, 51, 52, 56, 58, 59, 66, 68.

MDL's HPV reflex testing includes HPV 16 and HPV 18 RNA expression, HPV 16 viral load, HPV 16 integration status and E6 variants at no additional charge.