New cervical cancer test ‘better than usual method’

A new computerised test for cervical disease is more successful than the traditional smear test method at detecting abnormal cells, a new report claims today.

Published in BMJ.com, the study also says that the new test could decrease the number of women needing to be re-tested and might allow for longer periods between testing.

Traditional smear tests involve transferring material taken from the cervix with a collection instrument directly on to a glass slide. These are then evaluated manually by a cytologist – a process known as conventional cytology (CC).

A more recent system, liquid based cytology (LBC), rinses the collection instrument in a liquid to produce a suspension to give a single layer of cells.

Australian researchers used a computerised reading system known as a Thin Prep Imager (TPI) to evaluate LBC and CC slides from 55,164 Australian women.

They found that the TPI detected 1.3 more cases high-grade cervical abnormalities per 1,000 women screened than the CC test.

The researchers argue that if the TPI method were introduced in Australia it would increase detection to 9.0 cases per 1,000 women screened.

“This study of 55,164 split sample pairs provides strong evidence that the ThinPrep Imager detects more high grade histological disease than does conventional cytology,” they add.

“The introduction of the imager would increase the detection of high grade histological disease by 1.3 cases per 1000 women screened.”