Despite all of the technological advances which have occured in medicine in the last 100 years, the cervicovaginal smear, or Pap smear, named for its developer, Dr. George Papanicolaou, is still one of the few tests we have available which can detect the presence of a premalignant lesion allowing for the prevention of cancer. The vast majority of tests utilized in cancer diagnostics detect cancer after it has already developed, and in most instances, do not prevent ultimate cancer death. Unfortunately, as many as 14,000 women still die from cervical cancer every year, related primarily to the fact that most of these women have never had a Pap smear or are tested only infrequently. What is a Pap Smear Exfoliated cells can be obtained from various body sites for the purpose of obtaining clinically useful information. Proliferation and maturation of epithelial cells leads ultimately to exfoliation of cells.
Methods are available to collect exfoliated cells, primarily from epithelial surfaces.
It is also possible to mechanically enhance the exfoliation process to obtain more viable cells by using a variety of spatulas or brushes. Samples will be composed of single cells or small tissue fragments compared to large tissue sections obtained in surgical biopsies. The female genital tract is lined by epithelium. Differentiation and maturation of cells are reflected by characteristic morphologic features which staining techniques allow us to identify. As a point of communication between the outside and inside of the body, the uterine cervix is continually being bombarded by a variety of stressors including mechanical, microbiologic, chemical, and hormonal insults.