Cervical cancer screening
The overwhelming majority of cervical cancer is caused by the high-risk Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), which, by "reprogramming" the infected epithelial cells, creates a precancerous condition that is initially only mild and then increasingly severe, and then - usually over many years - can turn the cells into tumor cells.
The purpose of cervical cancer screening is to detect this process as early as possible in the cancer prevention stage and to take the necessary measures.
Treatment (surgical removal) of successfully screened precancerous conditions can be life-saving!
"Traditional" cancer screening (cytology)
Cells are removed from the surface of the cervix with a special tool (cytobrush) and examined under a microscope, this is called a cytological examination. The method was developed 80 years ago by the Greek doctor Papanicolaou and has spread worldwide.
The efficiency of the cytological test (cancer detection ability, sensitivity) is approx. 60-70%, which means that it detects 60-70 out of 100 tumors (or serious pre-existing conditions) and 30-40.
HPV-based cancer screening - proven to be more effective!
The method examines the presence of the HPV virus itself using laboratory methods (HPV DNA detection). The advantage is that it discovers the cause of the problem itself, but the disadvantage is that the presence of HPV in itself does not mean a disease, only if the reprogramming of the cells has begun, so in case of positivity, additional tests (cytology, colposcopy) are necessary.
The sensitivity of HPV screening is approx. 95%, i.e. out of 100 tumors (or serious pre-existing conditions), it recognizes 95, and 5 not.
Colposcopy
Cervical biopsy
