Screening for cervical cancer in the developing world

Abstract

Cervical cancer remains the most common malignancy amongst females in countries of low income, mainly due to a lack of screening. Responsible factors are centred around inadequacies of the Pap smear: high cost; low sensitivity; the need of a laboratory with high human expertise; and a demanding logistic system for mass screening. No alternative screening method seems to be clearly advantageous. Although combinations of tests have higher sensitivities, they are complex, costly and associated with low specificities. Adding the problem of effective treatment, it seems that mass screening with adequate coverage of the population is an unreachable goal for many developing countries. The most promising development in the control of cervical cancer seems to be vaccination against the human papillomavirus, either as a preventative measure or for stimulating immunity in infected women.