Updated: Friday October 1, 2010
What is involved in being a HPV FOCAL Study participant?
When you are due for your regular cervical screening appointment (Pap test) you will receive a package in the mail from the study center, sent to you on behalf of your Family Practitioner. In this package, will be a letter telling you that it is time for you to make an appointment for your Pap test. The letter will also inform you that you may be eligible to participate in the HPV FOCAL Study. In this package you will also find an informational brochure about the study that will give you some of the same information you will find on this website.
The letter will ask you to contact the study center to learn more about the study and let us know if you are interested. When you contact us, we will determine if you are eligible 
, provide you with more information about the study and answer all your questions. It's best if you speak with someone at the study center before you go for your pap smear appointment. The call takes only 10 minutes and will provide you the opportunity to ask any questions you have and will save time when you do go to your doctor for your appointment. This short phone call is the only thing that takes extra time in the study, beyond anything needed for medical purposes, based on cervical sample results.
If you are interested in participating in the HPV FOCAL Study, but do not receive a study invitational package, and you are seeing one of the doctors who is collaborating on the study you can still participate. When you check in for your pap smear appointment, tell the office assistant you are interested in participating and she will give you information on the study. Your doctor will determine if you are eligible and if so, you will follow the procedures below.
If you are eligible, and decide to participate in the study, you will go to your screening appointment (Pap test) as you normally would. Your doctor and you will sign the consent form, and then you will have your cervical sample taken as you normally would. These samples will then be sent to the lab.
Once your sample is received at the lab, it will be randomly assigned to one of three different testing methods:
- Regular pap test
- HPV Testing with follow-up in 2 years if no HPV is found
- HPV Testing with follow-up in 4 years if no HPV is found
No one will know what testing method your sample will undergo until it gets to the lab.
Once your Pap test result, or HPV test result is known you will be told what follow-up will be required. If your Pap test result is normal, or your HPV test result shows no HPV you will be told when your next screening appointment should be. When the results are known, your doctor’s office will contact you with this information. This process usually takes a few weeks from when your screening appointment was.
If HPV is found, or if your Pap test result does not look normal, you may be referred for a colposcopy. A colposcopy is similar to having a Pap test taken except that a special microscope, called a colposcope is used to examine your cervix more closely. If you do require a colposcopy, any treatment you may require will be based on the results of the colposcopy. Colposcopies are standard of care in the province for abnormalities found on a pap smear that require further examination. For study purposes, if you require a colposcopy, you will be referred to a study specific Colposcopy clinic in the province. The specific clinic will be told to you when you speak with the study center.
If you are told that HPV has been found in your sample, your healthcare provider will provide you with more information about HPV and what the results mean for you. In addition, the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada have developed a website, www.hpvinfo.ca, specifically about HPV that will provide you with a great deal of information. Your doctor should also provide you with an information sheet on what it means to be HPV positive.
It is important that you follow all instructions given by the study doctors and staff while you participate in this study. You will be told what kind of follow-up appointments you will require, and when these appointments should be made. For your health and safety, it is important you follow these instructions.
If you have any questions about this study, or participation, please do not hesitate to call, 604.707.5955 (in the lower mainland) or 1.877.707.5955 (if calling from outside the lower mainland), Monday to Friday 9am to 7pm. You may also email the HPV FOCAL Study center.