Screening Pap Smears Tied to Higher Cure Rate

 Women with screen-detected cervical cancer had a 26% absolute increase in cure rate as compared with women who were symptomatic at diagnosis, results of a Swedish study showed.

Even among symptomatic women, the cure rate was 14% higher in those who had been screened according to recommendations as compared with women who were overdue for Pap smears, according to Bengt Andrae, MD, of Uppsala University, and co-authors.

"Detection of invasive cancer by cervical screening implies a favorable prognosis compared with cancer being detected on the basis of symptoms," they wrote in an article published online in BMJ. "The effect was stronger than what is reflected in downstaging and was not attributable to lead time bias."

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http://www.medpagetoday.com/HematologyOncology/OtherCancers/31459