CLN Daily 2026
Innovations in cervical cancer screening are increasing accessibility and effectiveness in both the United States (U.S.) and globally. For example, self-collection kits have enabled more people to get screened for human papilloma virus (HPV), the virus behind most cervical cancer cases, leading to earlier treatment for high-risk patients.
On July 29, Leeya Pinder, MD, MPH, distinguished gynecologic oncologist and associate professor and associate director for cancer control and population sciences at the University of Cincinnati Cancer Center, will deliver a compelling plenary presentation at ADLM 2026 about the latest advances in cervical cancer screening and their roles in closing critical gaps in patient care, particularly for marginalized communities and women living in low- and middle-income countries. She’ll also describe the barriers that must be overcome to ensure widespread adoption of the latest techniques.
After starting out in private practice, Pinder earned a master’s degree in public health. As part of her program’s curriculum, she spent time in Kenya and Zimbabwe. “While there, I researched novel ways in which to integrate breast health and breast screening into the local context focus, mostly on women’s cancer,” she said. She also cultivated an expertise in cervical cancer prevention.
HPV self-collection kits have been a game changer, Pinder said. These kits, which allow patients to privately collect their own vaginal samples, can help in situations where women might not feel comfortable receiving gynecological care from a medical professional, whether that’s because of their background, religion, or previous trauma. The traditional method can also be difficult for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities who can’t tolerate speculum exams.
Self-collection provides people with another way in which they have access and prevention. The kits are already popular in Australia, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Sweden, Pinder said. But uptake has not been universal. Her research also evaluates reasons for that, such as lack of access to medical care and stigma about sexually transmitted infections.
Some of those same barriers exist in the U.S., Pinder said. In addition, populations in urban or extremely rural areas require solutions designed to meet their specific needs. For example, the University of Cincinnati has created a mobile platform through which clinicians can integrate HPV self-collection for four rural populations, she said. “At some point, we hope to be able to offer home testing,” she said. “It’s really exciting for me as a person who deals with cervical cancer. My goal is to not have someone come and see me.”
Pinder will delve into the effectiveness of new low-cost technologies, such as thermal ablation devices, and describe emerging technologies, such as automated visual evaluation and artificial intelligence, to improve screening accuracy and access.
She will also discuss how public health professionals can help integrate HPV self-collection kits into medical workflows. That work includes making sure laboratories are set up to integrate these tests, being champions for new technologies, and “educating the community, large providers, and people that we care for,” Pinder said.
That means not framing HPV to patients primarily as a sexually transmitted infection, since doing so can contribute to the stigma around screening. “We have to normalize HPV as something that’s very common and frame it more as a cancer-prevention screening,” Pinder said.
Overall, Pinder hopes that attendees will learn more about cutting-edge cervical-cancer screening and feel empowered to help deploy the new advances to populations that may not have had HPV testing before, or that resisted it. Given that cervical-cancer treatment has such a high success rate when caught early, the result could be many lives saved. “It opens the door for so many people who have had trouble with getting these exams,” she said.
Jen A. Miller is a freelance journalist who lives in Audubon, N.J. +Bluesky: @byjenamiller.bsky.social.