Given these adverse effects, health care providers should be cautious about applying tests that have a high likelihood of yielding false-positive results, the authors assert. They should be more informed. The study also examined whether oral hormone replacement therapy had any effect on the development of cervical cellular abnormalities. Researchers found hormone replacement therapy did not significantly affect the incidence of abnormalities over the two-year period. The American Cancer Society predicts there will be about 12,800 new cases of invasive cervical cancer this year and about 4,600 women will die from the disease.
Most cases occur in women who have never been screened at all.
Before widespread screening, cervical cancer used to be one of the most deadly cancers for American women. This means a woman who has a long history of normal Pap smears and who is over 50 years old has a very low risk of developing new cervical disease. We should be focusing more of our efforts on screening unscreened and poorly-screened women. Smoking is another risk factor for cervical cancer. Other UCSF study authors are Deborah Grady, MD, MPH, professor and vice-chair of epidemiology and biostatistics and Karla Kerlikowske, MD, assistant professor in residence of general internal medicine.