NEWS & EVENTS

NEWS ARCHIVE | EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES

Great News for Women’s Health - New Pap Smear Screening Technology Improves Cervical Cancer Screening

Cervical cancer accounts for approximately 5,000 deaths each year. With early detection, a high percentage of these women can be cured. While the conventional Pap smear has significantly reduced the number of deaths, its effectiveness can be limited by sampling and slide preparation problems. It is clear that the key weapon in fighting this deadly disease is an annual, effective Pap test, which every woman should ask for during her yearly physical or gynecological exam.

Locally, a new technology called the ThinPrep Pap Test which improves the detection of cervical cancer is available. The ThinPrep Pap Test improves the quality of the specimen, which can result in more accurate diagnoses and fewer unnecessary repeat tests. More than 30 published studies with more than 500,000 patients have demonstrated the improved performance of the ThinPrep Pap Test compared to the conventional Pap smear. Physicians Reference Laboratory made an important decision 4½ years ago to use the ThinPrep Pap Test, and making this test available has helped us achieve our goal of providing women with the highest quality Pap smear results available. With better results, your physician will continue to provide you with the best possible healthcare.

Physician’s Reference Laboratory has recently enhanced its cervical cancer screening capabilities with The ThinPrep Imaging System. This computer image analysis based technology will help us focus our interpretive skills on the areas of the slide most likely to provide critical information for diagnosing cancer. With the implementation of this technology, we hope to give more local women access to this important test.

The most important action a woman can take regarding cervical cancer is to get a yearly pap smear, and every woman should be aware that a more accurate test is available in the Kansas City area. I encourage you to not put off your annual Pap test, and to ask your physician about effective cervical cancer screening.

Spencer Kerley, MD
Chief Executive Officer
May, 2004

To find out more about how this test is performed, review the article on this subject in PRL's online Educational Resources.