A DNA test for the virus that causes cervical cancer helps detect potentially dangerous lesions earlier than the commonly used pap smear technique, Dutch researchers said on Thursday. The test could mean fewer screenings for women and ensure that they receive earlier treatment for lesions that might lead to cancer, they said in Lancet. “It is a better test because you pick up more lesions,” Chris Meijer, a pathologist at VU University Medical Centre in Amsterdam, said. “And because you pick them up earlier, you have more time to treat the women.” The DNA test screens for evidence of infection by highrisk types of the human papillomavirus that cause cervical cancer. The study suggests the DNA test is better at indicating which women are at risk of precancerous lesions and should therefore have a biopsy, Meijer said.