Wednesday, may 18 (HealthDay News) - women 30 and older who have good results from each of two cervical cancer tests available today can safely wait three years for their next screening instead just a year, according to new research.
The conclusion is probably not be controversial, said Dr. Charles Capen, Chief of Gynecology/Oncology at Scott & Healthcare White Temple, Texas, given that the most recent guidelines already recommend that women 30 years and more that are otherwise in good health projected with a Pap test and a test for a related virus cancer of the cervix every three years as the first trials are both negative.
Unlike some cancers, cervical cancer is usually slow-growing, and it is curable if detected early, according to the National Cancer Institute of the United States.
"This [new search] confirms the latest directives," agreed Dr. Therese Bevers, Medical Director of the Centre for prevention of Cancer at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. "This is fabulous as it may give clinicians and women across a lot of comfort".
This will stimulate also more doctors actually follow these guidelines, we hope, added the Bevers, as recent research has revealed that most doctors are giving most often recommended Pap test - that is to say, once a year.
The results of the study will be presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology is held in June in Chicago. The results were published early Wednesday in a teleconference.
The risk of cervical cancer can be assessed by two different tests: the traditional Pap smear test, looking for anomalies of the cervical cells, and a more recent test that can detect the DNA of the virus that causes most cases of cervical cancer : human papillomavirus, or HPV virus. That screening is called the HPV test.
The new study involved more than 330 000 women are enrolled in a health plan in Northern California great who received the two types of tests between 2003 and 2005 and who were followed for five years after the test.
The estimated risk of five years for developing cancer of the cervix was 7.5 per 100,000 women in those who had normal PAP, versus a 3.8 much lower per 100,000 for women who were negative about the HPV test.
When the two trials were conducted with both giving negative results, the estimated risk was 3.2 per 100,000 women, which means that the only HPV test is almost as good as the two combined.
"A single negative HPV test [predicted] risk extremely low cancer for women which was not significantly reduced by having a normal Pap test," lead of said author Hormuzd Katki, principal investigator of the Division of the epidemiology of Cancer and genetics to the U.S. National Cancer Institute.
That means that women who test negative on HPV testing alone may be able to extend their screening intervals to three years without adverse consequences, added Katki.
"It generates the question, the HPV test to become the standard at some point," said Bevers.
This could be particularly important in developing countries who often do not have the ability to interpret Pap test, said Bevers.
"The HPV testing is much easier," she added. "There is little as do a pregnancy test at home." "It is positive or negative".
There is still a role, however, Pap - follow-up of a positive test of the HPV test, said Katki. "The Pap test can identify women who have more immediate disease," he said.
"But many women assimilate a Pap test with their annual pelvic exam and one of the arguments against the screening of three-year intervals is that women would no longer see their doctor every year and obtain other necessary tests.such as pressure artériellecholestérol and screening for sexually transmitted infections "Capen said."
Capen, think however, that won't happen. "Young women may be on the pill or they may be pregnant, hope that they will always get the medical care that they need", he said.
Given that the results of the study must be presented at a medical meeting, they should be considered preliminary until published in a refereed journal.
No comments:
Post a Comment