Karkinos Healthcare launches 'CerviRaksha' a HPV test for early detection of cervical cancer

Mumbai: Karkinos Healthcare , an oncology focused healthtech platform has launched CerviRaksha', a first-of-its-kind clinically validated HPV test, which is pre-qualified by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in partnership with Karkinos network hospitals, doctors and corporates. The test is also granted the CE mark for meeting European Health Standards.

"CerviRaksha is the first test in HPV testing where the sample collection at home is made possible to encourage more women to participate in this screening. The new HPV test offers several advantages, including high accuracy, early detection, and a high negative predictive value. The test paves the way to better treatment protocols and boosts survival rates," the company said in a statement.

A medically trained CerviRakshak will perform the sample collection from home and the applicant will receive test results via email. The new HPV test ensures early detection of lesions in the cervix caused by HPV. Identifies the high-risk HPV-16 and HPV-18 genotypes individually. This enables the gynecologists to plan the treatment protocols accordingly. There is an inbuilt filtering of false positives and false negatives for additional accuracy, the statement added.

Commenting on the need for gold standard HPV testing methods to eliminate cervical cancer, Dr R. Sankaranarayanan, Director, Preventive Oncology, Karkinos Healthcare, said, "Among all the cancers, cervical cancer is completely curable, only if detected early. However, in India, the yearly incidence rate of cervical cancer is 18 per cent. The yearly mortality rate is 11.4 per cent, which could be unquestionably brought down to a great extent in the next five years if only we could generate enough awareness about the efficacy rate of HPV tests. Due to its high negative predictive value, once tested, the chances of developing cervical precancerous lesions or cervical cancer in the next five to ten years become extremely low. "