New cervical smear tests should not replace conventional ones

In cervical cancer screening, conventional smears are better than the new and more expensive technology. In a cross sectional study Coste and colleagues (p 733) evaluated the slides of 2585 women in terms of low and high grade lesions, and in populations with a low or a high incidence of abnormalities. They found that conventional smear tests were more reliable and had fewer false positives and negatives than liquid-based monolayer testing. Human papillomavirus testing associated with monolayer cytology, whether systematic or for diagnosis of atypical cells of undetermined significance, also proved no better than conventional smear testing. The authors conclude that replacement of conventional smear tests with monolayer cytology in countries such as the United States and Switzerland should be reconsidered.

(Credit: VT CYTOPATHOLOGY LAB)

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Relevant Article

Cross sectional study of conventional cervical smear, monolayer cytology, and human papillomavirus DNA testing for cervical cancer screening

Joël Coste, Béatrix Cochand-Priollet, Patricia de Cremoux, Catherine Le Galès, Isabelle Cartier, Vincent Molinié, Sylvain Labbé, Marie-Cécile Vacher-Lavenu, and Philippe Vielh
BMJ 2003 326: 733. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]