Certain tests can reveal precancerous cells with nearly the same accuracy as a physician's swab taken in a clinic, according to a new review of past studies, Fox News reports.

Compared with those gathered by a physician, self-collected samples were about 11 percent less sensitive in identifying precancerous growth.

Some strains of HPV are directly linked to cervical cancer risk, while others appear to have no negative effect on a woman's health.

HPV tests, and not Pap smears, are "the new standard of cervical cancer detection," said Marc Arbyn, from the Unit of Cancer Epidemiology at the Scientific Institute of Public Health in Brussels.

In 2010, nearly 4,000 women in the U.S. died from cervical cancer, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Meanwhile, a 2011 study found that 43 percent of girls and women between ages 14 to 59 are infected with HPV.

"Most cervical cancer cases reside in women who do not make regular clinic visits," said Attila Lorincz of Queen Mary University in London. Lorincz was not involved in the current study.

In their analysis of 36 studies that included a total of 154,556 women, Arbyn and his team compared the accuracy of HPV tests taken by women themselves and those collected by physicians.

On average, HPV tests from self-samples detected 76 percent of moderate precancerous growth and 84 percent of severe cervical cancer growth.