Women’s win on cancer
June 30, 2007
The Australian study published yesterday in the prestigious British Medical Journal found the ThinPrep Imaging System a hi-tech version of the conventional Pap smear is so much more efficient women will need fewer of the invasive tests.
The published study, co-conducted by The University of Sydney and Douglass Hanly Moir pathology, found the sophisticated test was a 17 per cent improvement on conventional Pap tests and better at detecting high-grade pre-cancerous lesions.
Health experts are now lobbying for the new test to be funded through Medicare, arguing the high-cost of suppling the technology to Australian women will save lives and reduce the long-term cost of cervical cancer.
“It could end up being cost neutral, it costs more to do the test but women will need fewer of them,” study author Dr Annabelle Farnsworth, Medical Director of Douglass Hanly Moir Pathology in Sydney, said.
The new computerised test costs about $40 but is more successful at picking up lesions before they progress into cancer because the sample of cervical cells is rinsed with a liquid that gives a clearer reading.
Doctors say conventional tests were considered flawed because cervical cells could be contaminated, making abnormalities harder to detect and meaning women had to make more frequent visits.
But the ThinPrep technology the first of its kind in Australia picks out more clearly the cervical cancer cells so they are easier to analyse, producing a more accurate result.
Karla Paff, a 24-year-old surf life saver from Bondi, said $40 was a small price to pay to avoid serious health issues but said she hoped the Federal Government would fund the test to make it more accessible.
“It’s worth the peace of mind to know that something hasn’t been missed,” she said. “It seems no one is not touched by cancer these days and I have cervical cancer in my family so I am realising that I have to do the right things now.”
Ms Paff is also in the 18- to 24-year age group which can receive the cervical cancer vaccine, Gardasil, available for free to women as of tomorrow.
In April this year, Australian girls in schools aged 12-18 years began receiving the injections as part of a national immunisation program.
The advanced Pap smear test coupled with the Gardasil vaccination should result in a significant reduce of cervical cancer rates in Australia, but doctors warn it is unlikely the disease will be wiped out completely.
“I think the vaccine has a long way to go, it will be two to three generations before we see how much of an effect it has, but certainly we would hope to see a reduction in cervical cancer,” Professor Chapman said.
The British Government has already adopted the latest test into their cervical screening program and medical experts told The Daily Telegraph the Australian Government will have no choice but to make the ThinPrep free for all women.
Gynaecological specialist and government fertility adviser Professor Michael Chapman said the ThinPrep had been available in Australia for a number of years but until now the Government had doubted the advanced test’s efficiency.
“The Government was not convinced it was a significant step forward (but) it will be difficult for them not to accept a 17 per cent increase in pick-up rate is useful, it is picking up things earlier and has the potential to further reduce deaths,” he said
Professor Farnsworth also said she was “optimistic” the Federal Government would fund the test and said the submission was being prepared now.