Risk of invasive squamous cell cervical cancer.

Invasive squamous cell cervical cancer is more likely to be detected in women who undergo screening at 2 and 3 year intervals compared with women who have a yearly screening, according to a report in the January issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

In a case-control study, Dr. Marie Grisham Miller from the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program, Oakland, California, and colleagues collected data on 482 cases of invasive squamous cell cervical cancer and on 934 matched controls. Both cases and controls were members of the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program.

The main outcome of the study was the relative odds of invasive disease associated with screening intervals of 1, 2 and 3 years.

Compared with yearly screening, the odds ratio for developing cancer for a 2 year interval between screening was 1.72 (p = 0.013), and it was 2.06 (p = 0.007) for a 3 year interval, Dr. Miller’s team found. The odds ratio was a nonsignificant 1.20 for screening at 2-year intervals compared with 3-year intervals, they add.

Dr. Miller and colleagues said, “these findings need to be placed in the context of the low absolute risks of developing invasive cervical cancer during the first 3 years after a negative smear and the promise of emerging new screening technology.”

They add that “further evaluation of appropriate screening intervals will be required as these new technologies are incorporated into routine screening.”

(Source: Medscape)