Word: paps
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...PAP SMEAR" FOR THE BREAST Since most breast tumors seem to originate in the milk ducts, why not just remove fluid from the ducts and check the cells for signs of abnormal growth? (That's basically the strategy doctors and other health-care providers use during a Pap smear to check the cervix for signs of abnormal growth before the cells become dangerous.) If there is a problem, so the theory goes, it could be traced to a particular duct, which would then be carefully monitored for signs of malignancy. One major drawback: seemingly abnormal results can be triggered...
...more than 50 years, a regular Pap test has been a woman's best defense against cervical cancer. By taking tissue samples from the cervix--the "neck," or outer opening, of the uterus--a doctor can usually tell that something is wrong before the cancer has a chance to fully develop or spread. Now researchers are eyeing a new gene-based test that they believe is better than the Pap test at identifying precancerous and malignant changes in the cervix--and could even replace it. But don't cancel your next gynecologic exam just yet. A lot more work needs...
...researchers at the Digene Corp. of Beltsville, Md., have developed a test that detects an active HPV infection by looking for its genetic by-products in the vagina. The HPV test was better than the standard Pap test at finding cervical cancer at any stage, according to two studies published in last week's Journal of the American Medical Association. So far, so good. Unfortunately, the test's false-positive rate--how often it indicated that there was a problem when none existed--was almost twice as high as that for the Pap smear. In these cases, a biopsy...
...that's the crux of the problem. How many women should undergo what is, when it comes right down to it, unnecessary treatment to find a few more cases of cervical cancer? Shouldn't health officials focus instead on making sure that more women undergo regular Pap-smear examinations? After all, Pap smears, though far from perfect, have helped dramatically lower the death toll from cervical cancer--taking it from the No. 1 cause of death due to cancer in American women to the 10th...
...present, the HPV test is approved in the U.S. only to help resolve ambiguous results from a Pap-smear test. Many gynecologists believe that HPV will eventually replace the Pap. But they're not willing to abandon it without a lot more detailed information--and neither should...