Screening for Cervical Cancer

The Pap smear is a landmark in preventive medicine- over the past 50 years deaths from cervical cancer have decreased by 70% in the US. As a site for the NIH Atypical Low-Grade Triage Study (ALTS), the UAB laboratory offers the latest in cervical cancer screening techniques. Conventional Pap smear or Liquid-based Pap and Human Papillomavirus (HPV) DNA testing are available.

Reflex HPV DNA testing is the preferred "approach" for managing patients with borderline Pap results. Using liquid-based methods, the HPV test may be performed from residual fluid if an ASC-US (Atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance) interpretation is made.

The 2001 Bethesda System,

JAMA 2002 April 24;Vol.287: 2120-2129