Re: The "I'd rather have her get cancer than have sex" dept.


Cheezits wrote:
Mark VandeWettering <wettering@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
[etc.]
4,000+ women die each year in the U.S. from cervical cancer.

How much higher would that number be if we didn't have the PAP test?

info from: http://www.ahcpr.gov/clinic/3rduspstf/cervcan/cervcanrr.htm

Detection of cervical cancer in its earliest stages is lifesaving, as
survival of cancer of the cervix uteri depends heavily on stage at
diagnosis. Although 92 percent of women will survive 5 years when the
cancer is localized, only 13 percent will survive distant disease.24
Introduction of screening programs to populations naïve to screening
reduces cervical cancer rates by 60-90 percent within 3 years of
implementation.25,26 This reduction of mortality and morbidity with
introduction of the Pap test is consistent and dramatic across
populations. Although no prospective trial of Pap screening has ever
been conducted, correlational studies of cervical cancer trends in
countries in North America and Europe demonstrate dramatic reductions
in incidence of invasive cervical cancer and a 20-60 percent reduction
in cervical cancer mortality.

No prospective studies have directly compared the outcomes of screening
at different intervals in a given population. Data from 8 cervical
cancer screening programs involving 1.8 million women compared the
effects of different intervals among the programs: screening at
intervals of 5, 3, 2 years or 1 year was estimated to reduce incidence
of invasive disease by 84 percent, 91 percent, 93 percent, and 94
percent, respectively, among women aged 35-64, assuming perfect
compliance. Data from a large screening program in the United States
indicate that a longer interval (3 years vs 1 or 2 years) between Pap
tests is not associated with a higher risk for developing high-grade
lesions.27


.

Relevant Pages