Pap Smear News and Research

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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.

When it comes to preventing cancer, women believe they're doing more than they actually are

Perhaps most surprising, women are more afraid of getting Alzheimer's disease than cancer, even though cancer causes nearly ten times more deaths per year.

3 Oct 2007

HPV testing and vaccinations may change scope of training for lab professionals

By now we have all heard or seen commercials promoting testing and vaccination of human papillomavirus (HPV), a virus with more than 100 strains, 30 of which are sexually transmitted.

3 Oct 2007

New study likely to fuel debate over annual physical exams

While most patients and physicians believe it's important for adults to have an annual physical exam, there's growing debate about this conventional wisdom.

25 Sep 2007

Process of care failures in invasive cervical cancer: Systematic review and meta-analysis

The decline in cervical cancer is a success story of cancer research. Although there are reasons to be optimistic about even further decreases in cervical cancer incidence, there still remain some women who are not screened.

24 Sep 2007

Cervical cancer screening: Too many are left unprotected

The decline in cervical cancer is a success story of cancer research.

20 Sep 2007

Immigrants and health care: sources of vulnerability

Expanding opportunities for immigrants to obtain legal residency and citizenship may be the best option to offer them better access to health care, according to an article published today by the RAND Corporation in the journal Health Affairs.

12 Sep 2007

Link between nicotine and atherosclerosis

It's well known that smoking cigarettes increases risk for a host of serious health problems from cancer to heart disease. Now a new study from Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City looks at how they do their dirty work by contributing to atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries. The evidence points to nicotine, the addictive chemical in cigarettes.

11 Sep 2007

Eight things you need to know about ovarian cancer

Ovarian cancer doesn't get the kind of attention breast cancer gets. It's not as common, and because survival rates are poor, it does not produce an army of survivors to raise awareness.

11 Sep 2007

Worldwide distribution of cervical cancer virus is consistent with vaccine targets

The variety of human papilloma viruses that cause invasive cervical cancer cases worldwide are largely consistent across continents, according to a new study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

3 Aug 2007

Benefits and risks of the new HPV vaccine aren't fully known

Media coverage of the recently introduced human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine - including talk of state-mandated vaccination programs - has brought considerable attention, if not always clarity, to this issue.

2 Aug 2007

Music takes stress out of colposcopy

If a cervical smear test reveals abnormal cells the woman will be offered colposcopy, a technique that involves a doctor studying the cervix with a special microscope.

18 Jul 2007

Uninsured women not getting regular Pap smears

One-fourth of uninsured U.S. women between the ages of 18-64 reported not having had a Pap smear within the last three years when surveyed in 2005, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

16 Jul 2007

Cervarix vaccine provides broad protection against cervical cancer

Just under 150 Perth women have contributed to major international research at the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research that has proved that the new Cervarix vaccine provides broader protection against cervical cancer.

29 Jun 2007

Support for chromosomal theory of cancer found in cancers' development of drug resistance

Thirty-six years into the war on cancer, scientists have not only failed to come up with a cure, but most of the newer drugs suffer from the same problems as those available in the pre-war days: serious toxicity, limited effectiveness and eventual resistance.

28 Jun 2007

Trial shows CERVARIX cervical cancer candidate vaccine effective

Results from an interim analysis of a Phase III study show that CERVARIX, the GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) cervical cancer candidate vaccine, provides up to 100 percent protection against advanced precancerous lesions caused by the most common types of human papillomavirus, types 16 and 18.

28 Jun 2007