Self-testing kit for sexually transmitted infections may be coming this fall

This fall, Canadian women may be able to self-administer tests for sexually transmitted infections from the comfort of their own homes, for less than $100.

Produced by Toronto company Eve Medical, the kitwill be available for order online. It will arrivein a unmarked envelope for privacy, and includea self-testing kit and a pre-addressed envelope destined for a Toronto-area lab that is partnering in the initiative.

The self-testing kit is designed to test forgonorrhea, chlamydia andhumanpapillomavirus(HPV), the latter of which is a risk factor for cervical cancer.Eve Medical promises its results viamobile app within a few days.

Currently, Ontario women have to attend a clinic and pay for HPVtests, which cost around $90 according to Cancer Care Ontario.

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Co-founder and OCAD graduate Jessica Ching has been fine-tuning the self-testing device for about six years. Two steps remain before the kit can go to market: the company needs to finalize its patient portal, and it needs to conduct one more test with the partner lab to demonstrate the accuracy of its results.

"I'm so proud of our team for putting together a device I really believe could help a lot of people," says Ching.

At the heart of her initiative, she says, isthe hope of makingit more convenient for women to test for HPV which she hopes could guard against cervical cancer.

But gynecologiconcologist Dr. Joan Murphy says self-testing for HPV poses severalproblems, including the possibility that it will lead to some women seeking out unnecessarytreatment.

Self-testing potentiallyrisky

Murphy, the clinical lead for Cancer Care Ontario's cervical screening program,has been working to improve cervical cancer screening in the province, which would include funding for HPV testing. Currently, the province pays for vaccinations for youth, but not testing.

She says30 to35 per cent of Ontario women who should be screening for cervical cancer are not doing so. And she says self-testing devices like Eve Medical'scould help to reduce this statistic.

But she's also concernedself-testing devices could also lead to unnecessary medical procedures.

"Women aged 21-30 are very likely to have an HPV infection, and it's very likely to mean almost nothing," she says, noting that many strains of HPV don't lead to cervical cancer.

A woman who tests positive for HPV canrequest a Pap smear from her doctorto see if she has abnormal cells in her cervix. If she does, the question is whether the abnormal cells should be removed as a preventative measure, out of concern they will lead to cervical cancer. However, Murphy says for many women, the cells will return to normal without medical intervention.

Additional treatment can be risky

Murphy says there is a grey zone when it comes to who qualifiesfor thispreventive cervical cancer procedure, and self-testingcould mean more women enter this zone. This is concerning, Murphy believes, because the procedure comes with its own risks.

"The treatments we offer to people we believe to have pre-cancerous changes in the cervix can lead to bleeding, pain, infection," she says.

There's also a small risk, Murphy says, that the treatment could cause problems during a future pregnancy.

HPV is different than other STIs, Murphy says. WhileHPV tests are only required once every three years, Murphy recommends sexually active women should be tested for other STIs much more frequently.

To reduce the risk of unnecessary over-testing andassociated affects, Ching says she willlink to Cancer Care Ontario guidelines regarding who should seek HPV testingon her website.