Dr Oz: New Test To Replace a Pap Smear
Once you have had children, if you are a woman in your 30s or 40s, you might not think you need to see your OB/GYN. But Dr Oz said that you might want to go back for a new test. The Pap Test (or Pap Smear) has helped to screen for Cervical Cancer for six decades. Modern science may have found a more effective and accurate test, one that can find precancerous lesions and fewer false positives. An FDA advisory panel agreed that this test could replace the Pap Smear. It is the HPV Test.
Dr Oz: HPV Test FDA Recommendation
Dr Oz asked two women’s health specialists about the FDA’s latest recommendations regarding the HPV Test to screen for Cervical Cancer, compared to the Pap.
OB/GYN Dr Lauren Streicher and gynecological oncologist Dr Stephanie Blank were on the show to talk about this test’s prospects for prevention. Dr Blank said this test will reveal whether a strain of HPV is dangerous and needs aggressive treatment, or whether it will resolve itself.
“The FDA recommended consideration for…the HPV test to be the frontline test for cervical cancer screening, so we would use that test to triage people, to know who needs further treatment and who doesn’t,” Dr Blank said.
The Pap Smear would still be useful, but would not be the first line go-to test for women’s cancer screening.
Dr Oz: Abnormal Pap Smear False Alarm?
Dr Streicher said the current Pap Test does an effective job. Most women who are diagnosed get the result not because their test missed the cancer, but because they did not have the test performed.
Many women in Dr Oz’s audience had received abnormal Pap Smear results in the past, only to find out it was a false positive. That is one of the things doctors hope to avoid with a more refined testing process.
That may mean less biopsies without missing any cancer warning signs. HPV can affect women of all ages. In your 20s, you are more likely to have the virus clear up on its own. But if you get it at an older age, it is more likely to stick around and cause health problems such as abnormal cells.
Dr Oz: Should I Be Worried About HPV?
Dr Streicher said that women in their 30s and 40s are less likely to see an OB/GYN than an internist, so no one may be looking for the problem. If you think you don’t need to worry about this because you have been married for years, think again.
The HPV virus could be lying dormant in the body for years before presenting itself. Dr Oz showed the anatomy of the pelvis, which houses the bladder, cervix, and uterus. If HPV entered the body, it could mingle among cervical cells and promote the growth of cancer. If undetected, it can spread to other areas of the body and become more difficult to treat.
As of spring 2014, here are the existing guidelines for the Pap Smear and HPV Test:
- Age 21-30 – Pap Test Every 3 Years
- Age 30-65 – HPV & Pap Test every five years, or Pap Test every three years
But Dr Streicher told Dr Oz that she hoped the guidelines would become more simplified in the future. Dr Oz agreed, saying that the HPV Test could be a huge health benefit, especially in terms of accuracy.
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