Pap Tests Don"t Curb Cancer Rates in Young Women

Last Updated: 2009-07-29 15:01:38 -0400 (Reuters Health)

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Cervical cancer screening with Pap smears in women between 20 and 24 years of age has little or no impact on rates of cervical cancer up to age 30, a new study suggests.

By contrast, in older women, cervical screening is associated with a marked reduction in rates of cervical cancer as well as rates of death from the disease, according to the study reported in the July 29th Online First issue of BMJ.

To investigate the effectiveness of cervical screening with age, Dr. Peter Sasieni, from Queen Mary, University of London, and colleagues analyzed data from 4012 women, 20 to 69 years of age, with invasive cervical cancer and 7889 matched "control" subjects without cancer.

As noted, screening for women in their early 20s did not reduce cervical cancer rates by age 30.

In contrast, in women between 40 and 64 years, screening cut the risks of cancer by 60% and 80%, respectively, they found. Screening older women was particularly effective in preventing advanced stage malignancies.

In a related study in BMJ, researchers found that the risk of developing pre-cancerous lesions on the surface of the cervix is much higher in women with persistent human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, especially the high-risk HPV types 16 and 18.

The study, by Dr. Philip E. Castle, from the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, and colleagues involved 2282 sexually active women who underwent serial HPV testing.

Source:

BMJ, online July 29, 2009.


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