DOI: 10.36347/sajb.2019.v07i02.011

Pages: 101-104

Introduction: Cervical cancer continues to consume lives of millions. The realization that early detection can lead to cure has imbued research in screening and diagnostic techniques: the result -3 marvelous tools for early cancer detection, namely Pap test, Colposcopy and HPV Test. Materials & methods: A cohort study was conducted in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) during the period from June 2013-2014. A total number of 100 women who attended Gynaecology outdoor of NEIGRIHMS were evaluated for unhealthy cervix. First patient was subjected to Pap test, followed by colposcopy and HPV test. HPV Test was done on tissue samples obtained through colposcopy directed biopsies and endocervical curettage in suspected cases. Results & Observations: The sensitivity and specificity of Pap test in our study was 45.45% and 92.3% respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of the colposcopic directed biopsies in this study was 90.9% and 65.71%. HPV testing in our study yielded a sensitivity and specificity of 81.82% and 97.44%. Conclusion: Although HPV testing in women older than 30 year has an average sensitivity and specificity of 89 and 90 per cent, the cost of the test bounds its use as a primary screening tool for cancer cervix. Hence, it can be reserved for high resource settings and cytology still remains the choice in poor resource settings.