A study on cervical cancer screening in asymptomatic women using Papanicolaou smear in a tertiary care hospital in an urban area of Mumbai, India

Abstract

Introduction:Cervical cancer is the most common cause of death among women in developing countries. Among the Indian women, cervical cancer is the most common genital tract cancer. Papanicolaou (Pap) smear test plays a vital role in the detection of cervical cancer even in its premalignant condition. The aim of this study to evaluate the role of Pap smear in detecting premalignant and malignant lesions as well as nonneoplastic lesions of the cervix and to determine the prevalence of various lesions.Materials and Methods:We screened 1100 women in the age group of 21–65 years who attended our medical camp organized by the hospital in outdoor patient department. All women was willing to give consent for screening by Pap smear test were included.Results:Of 1100 cases, majority of the cases were benign comprising negative for intraepithelial neoplasia (NILM) of about 581 (52.8%) cases, 203 (18.4%) inflammatory, atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance 45 (4%), low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (LSIL) in 75 (6.8%), and high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL) in 74 (6%) women. Overall sensitivity and specificity for the detection of LSIL were 75.8% and 94.6% and those for the detection of HSIL were 68.9% and 98.6%.Conclusions:Pap smear test is a very easy, noninvasive, useful, simple, safe, and very economical tool to detect preinvasive cervical epithelial lesions. It is evident and proven that every woman above the age of 30–35 years must be subjected to cervical screening and this must be continued even in the postmenopausal period.

A Clinicopathological study of uterine cervical lesions in a Tertiary Care Centre

“…In a developing country like India also cervix cancer is on the declining trend because of increase in population-based Pap screening programs. (Shaki et al, 2018) Though Pap screening has become a standard technique to diagnose the lesions on cytology, de initive diagnosis is always made by histopathology as a gold standard. (Asotic et al, 2014;Mainali et al, 2018) With cytology, false positive and false negatives are there at the rate of 10-35%.…”

“…In 1941 Greek doctor George Papanicolau introduced a test for screening cervical premalignant and malignant lesions which were named after his name as Pap test or Pap smear. (Lakshmi and Gouri, 2016;Shaki et al, 2018) Cervix cancer is the second most common cancer in women worldwide and is a signi icant public health problem in developing countries like India, where it is leading cancer. (Rana et al, 2013) (3) In the western world before the introduction of this test cancer of the cervix was the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in women.…”

“…(Bukhari et al, 2012) Pap test has 50-75% sensitivity and 98-99% speci icity to detect precancerous and cancerous lesions. (Shaki et al, 2018) HPV is the primary etiologic agent of cervical cancer. HPV DNA test used in conjunction with a Pap test increases the sensitivity of Pap screening.…”

Ethics of cancer care: beyond biology and medicine

“…As a result, the LMICs are now focusing the screening programmes on specific high-risk populations, hoping to achieve a better early detection rate [20]. This lack of screening and poor awareness in developing countries is often associated with higher cancer-related mortality [21].…”

Integrated Non-invasive Management of Cervical Low-Grade Squamous Intraepithelial Lesions Observed in Papanicolaou Smears with Antimicrobials Followed by Oral Curcuma Longa Extract

“…The best strategy for reducing morbidity and mortality is undoubtedly prevention of cervical cancer [2]. The most commonly used screening methods for cervical cancer and precancerous conditions include the Papanicolaou (Pap) Lesions (LSIL) or High-Grade Squamous Intraepithelial Lesions (HSIL) which are precancerous conditions [3][4].…”