Clinical trial data and a Food and Drug Administration panel’s full-throated endorsement stand to reshape cervical cancer screening practice recommendations in the U.S.

The FDA’s Microbiology Devices Advisory Committee in March voted 13-0 in favor of a new indication for Roche’s Cobas human papillomavirus test that would allow the assay to be used as a primary screen for cervical cancer in women 25 and older. At this article’s deadline, the FDA had not yet acted on the panel’s advice but the agency usually heeds its advisory committees’ recommendations.

My latest in CAP TODAY’s Put it on the Board section. Read the whole shebang.

A back-page section in CAP TODAY that I’ve been working to beef up is called “Put it On the Board.” I usually contribute a fairly well reported lead news item of a few hundred words.

Back in January, I examined the need for faster, simpler tests to diagnose infectious diseases. In February, the story looked at explosive growth in the field of genomics and how difficult it is to translate benchside discoveries into bedside treatments. And last month I reported on how labs will be affected by a new federal regulation giving patients the right to their test reports.

And, yes, it appears that Ken “Hawk” Harrelson’s home-run call did inspire the section’s name.