Rhonda
Sanders, histotechnologist, performs a ThinPrep Pap Test.
A replacement to the 50-year-old Pap smear, the current method of screening for cervical cancer, is being offered through MUSC's Division of Laboratory Services. The new test has been used on a limited basis for several months, serving Medical University clinics. MUSC is now making the test available to physicians in the Tri-county area.
“The ThinPrep Pap Test improves detection of cellular abnormalities,” according to Patricia Houser, technical coordinator of the MUSC Cytopathology Laboratory. “The new test improves the detection of lesions by enabling the cytotechnologist to examine samples which are better preserved, evenly dispersed and unobscured by blood, mucus and inflammation.”
With the ThinPrep Pap Test cervical cell samples are collected in the traditional manner, but rather than smearing a small portion of cells onto a slide, the collection device is rinsed in a vial of preservation solution. The sample is sent to the laboratory, where an instrument disperses and filters the sample to reduce blood, mucus, and inflammation. A thin, even layer of cervical cells is then applied to a slide, resulting in a uniform sample preparation ready for microscopic examination.
“With the traditional Pap test, a large proportion of the cervical cells are lost when the collection device is discarded,” said Houser. There are fewer cells left for analysis. Many times these cells are obscured by blood, mucus and inflammation, making interpretation difficult. This new method gives us a clear, unobstructed view of virtually all cells taken from the patient.”
Also, with the old method the sample may be so compromised that laboratory analysis is not possible. In these cases, patients must return to their physicians to provide another sample.
Pap smears have been one of medicine’s greatest successes, detecting cancerous or pre-cancerous cells in early treatable phases and dramatically cutting the death rate from cervical cancer by at least 70 percent in the last 50 years. “But the test has not been perfect,” said Houser. “We believe that the ThinPrep PapTest eliminates some of the problems associated with the traditional Pap test, and gives us a superior tool to assist the physician in diagnosing precancerous lesions and preventing cervical cancer.”