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Cancer CervixAPACHE-3NCT02255084

Vaginal Self-sampling and Human Papillomavirus Testing in Unscreened Women

A study testing Group 1 remove self sample kit at gp consulting room or perform pap smear and Group 2 perform self sample at home or pap smear in people with Cancer Cervix, run by University Hospital, Tours at 1 site in France.

Completed

Finished. The study has ended and is not enrolling. Results may be posted on the official record.

Official record
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Trial summary

Despite the existence of an effective screening test (pap smear), cervical cancer is, every year in France, the cause of more than 3,000 new cases and 1,100 deaths. But, in France, 4 in 10 women are not screened or not often enough (nearly 7 millions women). Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 30 to 65 years, women only
Conditions the study is for
Cancer Cervix
What is being tested?
Group 1 remove self sample kit at gp consulting room or perform pap smear and Group 2 perform self sample at home or pap smear
Could I receive a placebo?
No, everyone receives an active treatment
How many people
3,612 participants
Where
1 siteFrance
Study dates
Feb 2015to Sep 2016
Phase
Interventional
Are there results?
None posted in the registry

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 30 to 65 years
  • Women only
  • No healthy volunteers
  • Adult, Older adult

Who may be able to join

  • women from 30 to 65 years old
  • women living in french territorial division 37 ("Indre-et-Loire")
  • women having a reported general practitioner in french territorial division 37 ("Indre-et-Loire")

Who cannot join

  • pap smear made in the three last years

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country.

France1 site
  • UH Tours

    Tours, Indre Et Loire, 37000

Other trials in France

About this study

Official title: Attitude of Unscreened Women Face to Different Strategies to Participate in Cervical Cancer Screening by Vaginal Self-sampling : Home-mailed or Invitation to Remove to Their General Practitioner

Despite the existence of an effective screening test (pap smear), cervical cancer is, every year in France, the cause of more than 3,000 new cases and 1,100 deaths. But, in France, 4 in 10 women are not screened or not often enough (nearly 7 millions women). It is therefore necessary to develop new strategies to reach these women. The etiological factor of this cancer is persistent infection with High-Risk Human PapillomaVirus oncogene (HR-HPV). Thereby, HPV-based tests could be alternative screening tests. Vaginal self-sampling with HR-HPV test is simpler and less intrusive than the pap smear. It has been shown that vaginal self-sampling with HPV test is a powerful means to increase the participation rate in cervical cancer screening.

Conditions
Cancer Cervix
Being tested
Group 1 remove self sample kit at gp consulting room or perform pap smear, Group 2 perform self sample at home or pap smear
Keywords
Cervical cancer screening, High Risk Human papillomavirus Infection, vaginal self-sampling, pap smear, general practitioner
Medical subject headings
Uterine Cervical Neoplasms

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • Group 1 remove self sample kit at gp consulting room or perform pap smearBehavioural

    Selected general practitioners are briefly informed about the study and they receive a package of kits for vaginal self-sampling.

    Selected women receive a mail inviting them either to remove a kit for vaginal self-sampling at their general practitioner's consulting room or to perform a pap smear. When women choose the vaginal self-sampling, a HPV test is performed on the sample in a virology laboratory.

  • Group 2 perform self sample at home or pap smearBehavioural

    Selected general practitioners are briefly informed about the study. Selected women receive a mail inviting them either to perform a vaginal self sampling at their home (with the kit provided) or to perform a pap smear.

    When women choose the vaginal self-sampling, a HPV test is performed on the sample in a virology laboratory.

Study groups in NCT02255084
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
Group 1ExperimentalGroup 1 remove self sample kit at gp consulting room or perform pap smear : Study coordinators send mail inviting women to remove a kit for vaginal self-sampling at their general practitioner s consulting room. Either a pap smear is perform or, at home, women perform vaginal self sampling. Then women send it to a central laboratory for HPV test (Human papillomaVirus).
Receives: Behavioral: Group 1 remove self sample kit at gp consulting room or perform pap smear
Group 2ExperimentalGroup 2 perform self sample at home or pap smear : Kit for vaginal self-sampling sent at women home. Women perform vaginal self sampling. Then women send it to a central laboratory for HPV test (Human papillomaVirus).
Receives: Behavioral: Group 2 perform self sample at home or pap smear

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. Participation / no participation to complete cervical cancer screening

    Uncompleted cervical cancer screening is defined as one of the followings :

    • no pap smear
    • no vaginal self-sampling
    • noninterpretable HPV test result and no pap smear
    • positive HPV test result and no control pap smear

    Measured: 9 months after postal mail

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted2 Oct 2014 (estimated)
  2. Study startFeb 2015
  3. Primary completionSep 2016
  4. Study completionSep 2016

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase N/A
Primary purpose
Screening
Allocation
Randomised
Intervention model
Parallel groups
Masking
None (open label)
Enrolment
3,612 participants (actual)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT02255084
Sponsor's protocol ID
INCA13-KH / APACHE-3
Acronym
APACHE-3
Status last verified
Dec 2025
First submitted
29 Sep 2014
Last updated
22 Dec 2025
Results posted
No
Data monitoring committee
No

Publications

  • Boyard J, Caille A, Brunet-Houdard S, Sengchanh-Vidal S, Giraudeau B, Marret H, Rolland-Lozachmeur G, Rusch E, Gaudy-Graffin C, Haguenoer K. A Home-Mailed Versus General Practitioner-Delivered Vaginal Self-Sampling Kit for Cervical Cancer Screening: A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial with a Cost-Effectiveness Analysis. J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2022 Oct;31(10):1472-1480. doi: 10.1089/jwh.2021.0597. Epub 2022 Jul 13.

    PubMed 35834620

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A study testing Group 1 remove self sample kit at gp consulting room or perform pap smear and Group 2 perform self sample at home or pap smear in people with Cancer Cervix, run by University Hospital, Tours at 1 site in France.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 3 inclusion and 1 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 22 Dec 2025. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 1 site in France. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

Are results available for this study?

The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

Participation / no participation to complete cervical cancer screening (time frame: 9 months after postal mail). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?

On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT02255084, which also lists 1 linked publication.

Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 22 Dec 2025.

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