This kind of innovation and collaboration is what it will take to help eliminate cervical cancer, and what we learn through SHIP will inform efforts to improve screening for other cancers.
The nationwide SHIP trial network to Prevent Cancer is a recent example of an extremely promising clinical trial, which I was honored to announce at the White House Cervical Cancer Forum in January 2024 ( 12). Part of the NCI's Cervical Cancer Last Mile Initiative ( 13), the SHIP trial network shifts the paradigm of cancer screening ( Detect Cancers Early) from the traditional top-down approach, to empowering the participants and beneficiaries of research by placing screening within their hands, literally, through self-sampling ( Engage Every Person). This is a novel method for HPV testing in the United States and has the potential to reach people who have been left behind due to geographic, socioeconomic, financial, demographic, or other barriers, by meeting people in the communities where they live ( Eliminate Inequities). The network also represents a broad collaboration involving government, private industry, professional societies, academia, and communities. This kind of innovation and collaboration is what it will take to help eliminate cervical cancer, and what we learn through SHIP will inform efforts to improve screening for other cancers.