Infrequent Pap smears may miss cancer precursors

Certain types of abnormalities that can lead to cervical cancermay be missed when youngwomen go years between Pap smears, according to a recent study.

Last year, theU.S. Preventive ServicesTask Force said women under 21don’t need cervical cancer screening, and Pap smears can be done once every three years after that, guidelines that agree with other groups such as the American Cancer Society.

Lisa Barroilhet at theUniversity ofWisconsinHospital inMadison and the study’s lead author said that she agrees with those recommendations, and her findings are not a reason to change them. But Pap smears have picked up abnormalities that helped find problems farther up the cervix that could lead to cancer, she said.

Even though Pap smearsweren’t designed to catch adenocarcinoma precursors, the findings mean lessfrequent Pap smears could lead to more of those full-on cancers developing, Barroilhet said. That’s especially a concern because they can be a fastergrowing type of cancer.

ButRebeccaHorvat, a pathologist fromtheUniversity of KansasMedical Center, said most abnormal lesions take years to develop into adenocarcinomas.

“It can be easily picked up every three years,” saidHorvat, whowasn’t involved in the new study.

Barroilhet