Two-stage cervical cancer screening: An alternative for resource-poor settings

OBJECTIVE: We sought to introduce 2-stage cervical cancer screening in whic h 2 screening tests are per formed sequentially (the second test is perform ed only if the first result is positive), followed by treatment if both tes t results are abnormal. STUDY DESIGN: A total of 1423 women from Cape Town, South Africa, were scre ened by direct visual inspection, human papillomavirus deoxyribonucleic aci d testing, cytologic testing, and cervicography. if an abnormality was iden tified with any test, women were referred for colposcopy. RESULTS: Direct visual inspection, cytologic testing, human papillomavirus deoxyribonucleic acid testing, and cervicography, when used alone, identifi ed 24, 26, 23, and 23 cases of disease (high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion or cancer) per 1000 women, respectively, and would classify 182, 71 , 137, and 112 women without disease as having abnormal results. Two-stage screening with direct visual inspection first, followed by cytologic testin g, human papillomavirus deoxyribonucleic acid testing, or cervicography, wo uld detect 18, 16, and 18 cases per 1000 women, respectively, and would sub stantially reduce the number of women without disease who were classified a s having abnormal results. CONCLUSION: Two-stage screening for cervical cancer provides an attractive alternative to conventional screening for low-resource settings.