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The Pap test, also called a Pap smear, checks for changes in the cells of your cervix. The cervix is the lower part of the uterus (womb) that opens into the vagina (birth canal). The Pap test can tell if you have an infection, abnormal (unhealthy) cervical cells, or cervical cancer.
Early detection methods can help cure cervical cancer

Early detection methods can help cure cervical cancer

Cervical cancer, a disease that will affect more than 12,000 women in the United States this year and more than a half million women worldwide, leads to significantly fewer deaths when effective early detection methods are available, either via a Pap smear or with a test for presence of the human papilloma virus. [More]
SLU assistant professor receives grant to identify policies that improve health of African-American men

SLU assistant professor receives grant to identify policies that improve health of African-American men

An assistant professor at Saint Louis University's College for Public Health and Social Justice has received a $100,000, two-year grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to determine which behaviors and policies are most likely to improve the health of African-American men. [More]

Women's health care proves challenging for VA system

The nation's imagination may be captured by the expanding combat role of women in the U.S. military. But for the Department of Veterans Affairs, there's a more pragmatic challenge. [More]

Study: Self-collection of genital samples for HPV testing helps in early detection of cervical cancer

In Kenya, women face a cervical cancer mortality rate that is approximately 10 times as high as in the United States. [More]
New screening method detects ovarian cancer by examining neighboring cells

New screening method detects ovarian cancer by examining neighboring cells

Pioneering biophotonics technology developed at Northwestern University is the first screening method to detect the early presence of ovarian cancer in humans by examining cells easily brushed from the neighboring cervix or uterus, not the ovaries themselves. [More]
Trovagene introduces urine-based HPV-HR DNA test for identifying high-risk HPV strains

Trovagene introduces urine-based HPV-HR DNA test for identifying high-risk HPV strains

Trovagene, Inc., today announced the commercial availability of its urine-based HPV-HR (high-risk) assay, a molecular human papillomavirus test. [More]

New study shows older patients get unnecessary colonoscopy screening

Colonoscopy is one of the most effective cancer screening procedures available. Colon cancer grows very slowly and can be treated if caught early through screening. But, perhaps because of this success, older Americans are undergoing screening colonoscopies despite recommendations against screening in adults aged 76 and older. [More]
Breast cancer tests: an interview with Dr Steven Quay, CEO of Atossa Genetics

Breast cancer tests: an interview with Dr Steven Quay, CEO of Atossa Genetics

Breast cancer is a major concern throughout the world. It is the number 1 cancer among women and in the Western world it generates approximately one new case per minute: 24 hours a day 7 days a week. [More]
Scientists figure out how to dodge HPV-triggered cancers by vaccination

Scientists figure out how to dodge HPV-triggered cancers by vaccination

In 2009, more than 30,000 people in the U.S. learned they had cancer linked to the human papillomavirus, or HPV. This virus is best known for causing cervical cancer, but it's also the culprit behind many cancers of the mouth, throat, anus, and genitals. Unlike many forms of cancer, for which we lack the knowledge and tools to prevent, scientists have figured out how to dodge HPV-triggered cancers — by HPV vaccination. [More]
Study evaluates effectiveness of 3 commonly used screening methods among South African women

Study evaluates effectiveness of 3 commonly used screening methods among South African women

The best approach to detecting cervical cancer in HIV-positive women living in research limited countries such as those in Sub-Saharan Africa combines commonly used testing methods tailored to local levels of development and medical infrastructure, according to a study by researchers from and the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa and the University of North Carolina. [More]

‘PapGene’ test detects endometrial and ovarian cancers

Researchers have adapted the papanicolaou smear test currently used to detect cervical cancer so that it can be used to screen women for endometrial and ovarian cancers. [More]
Pelvic exams frequently performed for reasons that are medically unjustified

Pelvic exams frequently performed for reasons that are medically unjustified

The pelvic exam, a standard part of a woman's gynecologic checkup, frequently is performed for reasons that are medically unjustified, according to the authors of a UCSF study that may lay the groundwork for future changes to medical practice. [More]
Roche’s cobas 4800 HPV Test receives CE mark

Roche’s cobas 4800 HPV Test receives CE mark

Roche today announces an expanded CE mark indication for the cobas 4800 HPV Test. The newly expanded indication for the cobas® 4800 HPV Test as a primary screen means Pap cytology is no longer required as a co- or pre-test in countries that accept a CE mark. [More]
Paper provides overview on preventing invasive cervical cancer

Paper provides overview on preventing invasive cervical cancer

Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center and colleagues at the University of South Florida and The Ohio State University have published a paper in the September issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention that provides an overview on preventing invasive cervical cancer. [More]
Cervical cancer screening: an interview with Alastair Atkinson, CEO of DySIS Medical Ltd

Cervical cancer screening: an interview with Alastair Atkinson, CEO of DySIS Medical Ltd

Cervical Cancer is a tragic disease. First and foremost, because it is entirely preventable if the early symptoms are detected in a timely manner [More]

HIV-positive women may use new methods to help reduce frequency of cervical cancer screening

Compared to the general population, HIV-positive women have a high risk of cervical cancer and thus are advised to undergo more frequent screening tests. This creates a burden for HIV-positive patients and the health care system, leading to frequent biopsies, which often do not reveal clinically relevant disease. [More]
RA patients do not receive fewer cancer screening tests than general population: Study

RA patients do not receive fewer cancer screening tests than general population: Study

New research reveals that rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients do not receive fewer cancer screening tests than the general population. Results of the study, funded in part by grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and published in Arthritis & Rheumatism, a journal of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), found that RA and non-RA patients receive routine screening for breast, cervical, and colon cancer at similar rates. [More]

Study reveals steepest decline in HPV vaccine completion among girls

The proportion of insured girls and young women completing the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine among those who initiated the series has dropped significantly - as much as 63 percent - since the vaccine was approved in 2006, according to new research from the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston. [More]
Hologic second quarter revenues increase 7.4% to $471.2 million

Hologic second quarter revenues increase 7.4% to $471.2 million

Hologic, Inc., a leading developer, manufacturer and supplier of premium diagnostics products, medical imaging systems and surgical products dedicated to serving the healthcare needs of women, today announced its results for the second fiscal quarter ended March 24, 2012. [More]

Longer looks: Why we still have faith in physicians

This patient is no fool, and she does't award trust liberally. … Yet, somehow, (Mary) Morse-Dwelley never lost faith in Pellegrini. She'd hear the click of her doctor's shoes in the hallway, see her blond hair and funky glasses, and feel confident that she was in good hands. This, too, represents a broad trend: As we have become better-informed patients, we have grown more cynical about a health care system that is ever more corporate and reliant on technology. [More]