A urine test could provide an alternative to Pap screenings for cervical cancer, according to a study by Nancy Kiviat, professor of pathology in the School of Medicine and chief of pathology at Harborview Medical Center.

The study involved 143 women from Senegal, West Africa. The researchers screened urine samples for methylation of tumor suppressor genes.

Kiviat hopes that urine testing proves to be a more cost-effective and less invasive way to screen for cervical cancer. She presented the results of the study at the American Association for Cancer Research's International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research, held last month in Seattle.