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Cervical Screening

Overview

The widespread utilization of routine cervical cancer screening has greatly enhanced physicians’ ability to detect cancerous and precancerous changes of the cervix. In the United States, the incidence of cervical cancer fell approximately 70% from 1950 to 1970, followed by an additional 50% drop from 1970 to 2000.
These declines likely resulted from implementation of cervical screening programs and an increase in the availability of screening to populations that previously did not have access to testing.

The most common cervical screening test used worldwide was developed by Dr. George Papanicolaou in 1943 when he described how vaginal cells could be collected and stained as a means of detecting cytologic abnormalities of the uterine cervix.
Although the test, known as the Papanicolaou smear (or Pap smear or Pap test), continues to be the mainstay of identification of cervical cancer and precancerous lesions of the cervix, it is still not being used to full advantage. It is estimated that 50% of women diagnosed with invasive cervical cancer have never had a Papanicolaou test, and 10% have not had a Papanicolaou test in the 5 years prior to diagnosis. In addition, human papillomavirus (HPV) testing has been available since 2003 as an adjunct to (or possible replacment for) Pap testing, as it is significantly more sensitive for detecting preinvasive lesion.
  Sadly, despite widespread screening and treatment of preinvasive lesions, there are still more than 14,000 new cases of cervical cancer in the United States each year and more than 4000 annual deaths from the disease.

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