A new method of screening for cervical cancer has been introduced on a pilot basis by the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.
The so-called Thin Prep Pap test is considered more sensitive to the presence of abnormal cervical cells than conventional methods, and promises to reduce the cost of screening services by eliminating the need for repeat tests.
The innovation, which has been piloted successfully in Britain and the US, requires doctors to take cell samples in the same way as they do at present. But rather than the cells being smeared on to a slide, as is now done, they will be suspended in fluid until screened in the laboratory.
The RCSI has acquired the equipment necessary for the pilot, which will get under way within the next week or two and continue indefinitely.
Prof Mary Leader of the college's pathology department said the test was a significant development in cervical cancer screening in the State : "Diagnosis using this new method will be more accurate than heretofore, and the long-term benefit for Irish healthcare will be a reduction in overall costs of cervical cancer screen services, due to the expected reduction in the incidence of repeat testing.
"There is also considerable scope in the future for the Thin Prep Pap Test to lend itself to automated screening of samples." The RCSI's pathology department is one of a number of centres conducting a commercial screening service, and carries out the tests for many Irish doctors and Wellwoman centres.
