The fear of cervical cancer is what holds Polish women back most from having a Pap smear test. Meanwhile, regularly performed cytology is primarily to reassure women that they are healthy, doctors said on Wednesday at a press meeting in the capital.
Although the free smear test program for women aged 25-59 has been carried out in Poland for the fifth year, only 5 percent of them apply for it. entitled women, reminded Dr. Jerzy Giermek, head of the Central Coordinating Center for Population Programs for Early Breast Cancer Detection and Prevention and Early Cervical Cancer Detection.
That is why one of the two most important goals that we want to pursue in the coming years is to improve the attendance of Polish women for this research – emphasized Dr. Giermek. Fear of cancer is the most important factor that prevents women from having a Pap smear, he assessed. So we want to convince them that only by regularly performing cytology they will be able to make sure of their health – he emphasized. The new slogan promoting the population program is: I am testing myself, so I am sure.
As the gynecologist Dr. Jacek Tulimowski recalled, cytology performed once a year allows to detect pre-neoplastic changes or the cervical cancer itself at a very early stage of development, when it is fully curable. If Polish women performed such research at least once every three years – as assumed by the population program – as much as 80 percent could be prevented. cases of invasive cervical cancer. Even vaccination against the human papillomavirus (HPV) does not exempt from regular cytology, various types of which are responsible for almost 100 percent. cases of cervical cancer – he stressed.
HPV infections are the most common sexually transmitted infections. Most sexually active women become infected with this virus at some point in their lives. In 80-90 percent of them, the infection passes by itself, and in the rest it turns into a chronic form, which significantly increases the risk of cervical cancer. Cancer develops in only a few percent of them, noted Dr. Giermek. Therefore, regular smear tests should be treated by women primarily as a way to be reassured about their health.
As he explained, when the cytology shows no disturbing changes, a woman can come for screening tests in 3 years (although, if she can afford it, it would be best to do it every year). The cost of the test is from 30 to 50 PLN. Women with changes are referred to in-depth diagnostics and, depending on the results, for further treatment.
According to Giermek, midwives who collect material for cytological tests from women could help in promoting the prevention of cervical cancer in small towns and villages. At the Warsaw Cancer Center, midwives have been doing it for 20 years and they are doing it perfectly, he emphasized. It would be beneficial because in some poviats of Poland there is not a single healthcare provider contracted with the National Health Fund to collect cytology.
The second goal that Dr. Giermek intends to pursue is to improve the quality of cytological tests performed in the laboratories participating in the program. We want their cytology to be performed at the European level, he stressed. It is primarily about the correct collection of material for cytology – with appropriate European-certified brushes (not swabs), correct smearing on the slides, and that the preparations are assessed by a cytotechnician or cytomorphologist who visits at least 7 a year. slides. As part of the control, 10 percent. slides and all slides with doubtful lesions should be checked by pathologists. The quality control of the studio is to be carried out by 10 auditors.
Information on how to prepare for cytology, what the examination should look like and the addresses of facilities performing good quality cytology can be found on the website www.bezpiecznacytologia.pl. You can read more about the population program at http://www.rakszyjkimacicy-profilaktyka.pl.
Joanna Morga (PAP)
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