Screening for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia

EDITOR, - J Elizabeth Macgregor and colleagues show that the incidence of invasive cervical cancer fell sharply in women aged 40-69 who had been well screened and had had the opportunity of repeat screening.1 Screening was associated with a tendency to present at an earlier stage. Though their evidence clearly shows that treatment of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia influences the course of the disease, their attribution of the changes in the population incidence and mortality due to cervical cancer to the screening over-simplifies the …