Screening and Diagnostics
The widespread utilization of routine cervical cancer
screening has greatly enhanced physicians' ability to detect cancerous and
precancerous changes of the cervix. Worldwide, the human papillomavirus (HPV)
has been detected in as many as 99.7% of cervical cancer.
It is estimated that 50% of women diagnosed with invasive cervical cancer
have never had a Papanicolaou test, and 10% have not had a Papanicolaou test in
the 5 years prior to diagnosis. Sadly, despite widespread screening and
treatment of pre-invasive lesions, there are still approximately 12,000 new
cases of cervical
cancer in the United Kingdom each year and roughly 4,000 annual deaths from
the disease. All pregnancy
tests work by detecting human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). The diagnosis of pregnancy
requires a multifaceted approach using 3 main diagnostic tools. These are
history and physical examination, laboratory evaluation, and ultrasonography.