CERVICAL CANCER SCREENING AND ITS IMPORTANCE ON THE HEALTH OF A

WOMAN (by Alison Achilonu)

Cervical cancer screening: Screening is a public health intervention provided to an

asymptomatic target population. Screening is not undertaken to diagnose a disease, but to

identify individuals with increased probability of having either the disease itself or a precursor of

the disease.

There are several tests used in screening for cervical cancer. The most commonly used for
cervical cancer screening is Pap Smear and it has shsown to reduce incidence and mortality rate.

Other tests include visual inpection wit acetic acid (VIA) and visual inspection with lugols

iodine(VILI)

Types of cervical cancer screening tests: Various methods of screening cervical cancer abound as

explained below.

Recommended age

The recommended age for women to start screening for cervical cancer is 21-65years. Pap smear

should be done every 3years. They should not be tested for HPV unless it is needed after an

abnormal test result. Women older than 65years of age should stop cervical cancer screening if

they do not have a history of moderate or severe cervical dysplasia or cervical cancer.

Importance of cervical cancer screening

It reduces the risk of getting cervical cancer.

It helps to find cervical cancer cells early before you have symptoms.

Early detection of cervical cancer cells improves the chances of recovery.

Types of screening test.

Papanicolau’s smear: It involves exfoliating cells from the transformation zone of the cervix to

enable examination of these cells microscopically for detection of cancerous or precancerous

lesions. In the technique known as liquid based cytology, these collected cells are released into a

vial of liquid preservative that is then used in the cytology lab to produce a slide for microscopic

evaluation of the cells.

Fig.1. Papanicolau test

Visual tests: this include Visual inspection with acetic acid(VIA) andVisual inspection with

lugols iodine solution(VILI).In a visual test, the provider applies acetic acid (in VIA) or lugols

iodine solution (in VIL) to the cervix and then looks to see if there is any staining, allowing the

provider to make a diagnosis. A VIA test is positive if there are raised and thickened white

plaques or aceto-white epithelium, a VIL test is positive if there are mustard or saffron. Yellow

coloured areas actually near the squamo-columnar junction (SCJ). Either test is suspicious for

cancer if a cauliflower-like fungating mass or ulcer is noted on the cervix visual lining is smooth,
pinkish with acetic acid and dark brown or black with lugols iodine (Tarnay & Han, 2014). This

visual methods are relatively simple and expensive and the results are available immediately but

it lacks standardization.