Report: Liquid-based cytology is “not superior” to the Pap

A study finds that the two test methods detect cervical intraepithelial neoplasia at a comparable rate

Senior Editor

Liquid-based cytology is not superior to the Pap test in the detection of cervical cancer precursors. So says a study by Albertus G. Siebers, MSc, and colleagues published in the October 28 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association.¹

The randomized, controlled trial of 90,000 women, 30 to 60 years old, was conducted at 246 practices in the Netherlands. Of these, 122 (comprising 49,222 patients) were randomly assigned to perform cervical cancer screening using liquid-based cytology, and 124 (40,562 patients) were assigned to conduct screening using the Pap test. Subjects were followed for 18 months.