‘Never fear smear, its P ap time’. Educating the public and raising awareness about Pap test is the best way to identify cervical cancer. Unlike most other cancer cervical cancer is detectable and preventable before it turns into full-blown cancer. Cancer is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in India while cervical cancer is the most common cancer among Indian females. Usually 80% cervical cancer cases are detected at stage 3 or higher at the time of diagnosis. It is found that 2,11,000 new cases of cervical cancer occur annually in India.
Unlike other cancers, cervical cancer is readily preventable as it is easy to detect and treat its precursor lesions. A Pap smear, also known as Papanicoloau smear, is a microscopic examination to detect cancerous or pre-cancerous conditions of the cervix. The test was named after Dr. George N. Papanicoloau, who first described it in 1928. The…
