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News|Videos|August 17, 2026

Jeff Andrews, MD, on raising awareness and identifying candidates for HPV self-collection

Key Takeaways

  • Self-collection can be a good option for patients who decline speculum exams, including trauma survivors and patients with vulvodynia, as a shared decision.
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Jeff Andrews, MD, FRCSC, discusses raising awareness of at-home HPV self-collection and identifying appropriate candidates as the option rolls out in the US.

With at-home HPV self-collection newly available in the US, raising clinician and patient awareness and identifying appropriate candidates are central to adoption, according to Jeff Andrews, MD, FRCSC, Vice President, Medical Affairs, Waters Advanced Diagnostics. The discussion continues Andrews's earlier conversation on Onclarity for HPV self-collection since its April 2026 FDA clearance.

“Self-collection is brand new at home in the U.S. market. Initial awareness among clinicians and patients is fairly low. We do know from past surveys that around 80% of women want a more comfortable, less invasive HPV testing option,” he said.

Andrews emphasized that clinicians of any type should assess screening eligibility at each visit.

“The screening can be clinician-based, it can be in-clinic self-collection, or it can be at-home self-collection. So this should be happening at every visit, basically, to make sure that cancer screening opportunities aren't missed,” he said “This might fit with primary care drop-in patients who have unrelated healthcare visits, and a clinician discovers that they haven't been screened within the appropriate interval,” Andrews said, noting self-collection can capture a patient who might otherwise leave unscreened.

For the OB/GYN audience already screening their patients, Andrews framed self-collection as an option for those who decline a speculum exam and clinician collection.

“Examples include trauma survivors, patients with past medical or sexual trauma who avoid speculum exams. One of my areas of expertise is vulvodynia, which is another reason a patient simply can't undergo the exam, so this is an opportunity for them,” he said, adding that patients with physical and mental disabilities who cannot tolerate an examination may also benefit.”

Andrews stressed that the choice remains individualized. “The decision ultimately remains a shared decision between the individual patient and clinician based on patient preference,” he said.

Reference:

  1. Fitch J. Jeff Andrews, MD, discusses Onclarity for HPV self-collection. Contemporary OB/GYN. Published August 2026. Accessed August 14, 2026. https://www.contemporaryobgyn.net/view/jeff-andrews-md-discusses-onclarity-for-hpv-self-collection

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