why is a pap smear name
the reason it is called a pap smear is that what they are testing for is the human papillomavirus. Hence pap comes form the beginning of PAPillomavirus and smear is when they take the sample and spread it on a microscope slide. Hence pap smear. Runaway Train Â· 9 years ago.
What Is a Pap Smear? Cancer of the cervix (cervical cancer) is the fourth most common cause of cancer-related death among women worldwide. The best way to detect cervical cancer is by having regular Papanicolaou tests, or Pap smears. (Pap is a shortened version of the name of the doctor who developed the screening test). A Pap smear is a microscopic examination of cells taken from the uterine cervix.