Liquid-based cytology and conventional cervical smears

✍ Scribed by Melamed, Myron R.

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2004
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 41 KB
• Volume: 102
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0008-543X
• DOI: 10.1002/cncr.20240

✦ Synopsis

Liquid-Based Cytology and Conventional Cervical Smears: A Comparison Study in an Asian Screening Population

I read with some interest the report by Cheung et al. 1 comparing the diagnostic results obtained using the ThinPrep test (Cytyc Corp., Boxborough, MA) with the results obtained using conventional cervical cytologic methods. The authors noted that the incidence of high-grade squamous intraepithelial or more severe lesions was not significantly increased among women for whom the ThinPrep test was performed. In fact, fewer cases of high-grade squamous intraepithelial or more severe lesions were detected during the 2-year period in which the ThinPrep test was performed compared with the period in which conventional methods were used (469 of 190,667 [0.246%] vs. 508 of 191,581 [0.265%]). Nonetheless, diagnoses of atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance, atypical glandular cells of undetermined significance, and low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions all increased, and the authors considered this finding to be indicative of a significant enhancement in efficiency relative to cervical cytologic screening. Assuming that the two populations examined actually were identical and that cytologic interpretations of the cells present were equally accurate, one would be forced to conclude that some high-grade lesions were not adequately detected by the ThinPrep technique.