Cervical cancer screening
Cervical cancer screening and the COVID pandemic1-4
Cervical cancer is still a concern. The COVID-19 pandemic has reduced cervical cancer screening and associated cancer diagnoses—putting women’s lives at risk.
Screening visits went down during the pandemic. As a consequence, diagnoses are down, and patients may be underscreened.
Double-digit decline in cervical cancer diagnoses within 1 year of the start of the COVID-19 pandemic4
Make sure your patients ages 30-65 receive the best: co-testing
What is co-testing?
The Pap test looks at actual cells to see if cancer is present or likely to occur. The HPV test detects the virus that causes most cervical cancers.
Co-testing with Pap and HPV together helps identify more cases of cancer and precancer than either test alone.
Co-testing matters
In a recent Quest Diagnostics Health Trends® retrospective, longitudinal study8:
Guidelines support co-testing
Guidelines from leading health organizations, ACOG, USPSTF, and ASCCP continue to endorse co-testing as a Grade A–level screening option in women ages 30-65.5-7
Guidelines support co-testing
Guidelines from leading health organizations, ACOG, USPSTF, and ASCCP continue to endorse co-testing as a Grade A–level screening option in women ages 30-65.5-7
Co-testing matters
In a recent Quest Diagnostics Health Trends® retrospective, longitudinal study, 1 in 5 women (22.5%) with cervical cancer would have been missed by screening with HPV alone.8
Co-testing versus HPV alone
HPV was not detected in 1 in 5 cases of cervical cancer8
Data <12 months of cancer diagnosis
Co-testing versus Pap alone
Pap alone did not identify presence of a pre-cancerous condition in 11% of patients8
Data <12 months of precancer diagnosis
Pap + HPV = Co-testing
Not all Pap tests are created equal
With our robust cervical cancer testing menu, you can rely on Pap testing from Quest Diagnostics to help you make a more informed diagnosis and treatment plan for your patients.
- Quest evaluates more Paps and high grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSILs) than almost any other lab*
- Normal Paps are rescreened at nearly 2x the minimum federal requirement for labs
- All Paps from high-risk patients are double-screened
- All abnormal Paps are reviewed by 1 or more pathologists
- Our expert pathologists are available for consultation at 1.866.GENE.INFO
While we offer a choice of Pap collection systems,
Quest Diagnostics recommends the ThinPrep® Pap test
due to its proven clinical performance.
*IQVIA claims data
Aptima® HPV mRNA testing: excellent, similar sensitivity and better specificity vs HPV DNA testing
The Aptima® HPV mRNA assay identifies the presence and activity of high-risk HPV infections, allowing you to identify and focus on those women who most need your care.
Give her the best: give her co-testing
Smart Codes make it easy to incorporate co-testing into your practice
Smart Codes: a solution from Quest to help you order the combination of an image-guided Pap, HPV test, and sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing appropriate for her age and risk factors.5-7
| TEST CODE | TEST NAME |
|---|---|
| 91384 |
Image-Guided Pap with Age-Based Screening Protocols |
| 91385 |
Image-Guided Pap with Age-Based Screening with CT/NG |
| 91386 |
Image-Guided Pap with Age-Based Screening with CT/NG, Trichomonas |
Components of panels can be ordered separately: ThinPrep Image-guided Pap (test code 58315), SurePathTM Imaging Pap (test code 18810), HPV mRNA E6/E7 (test code 90887), HPV Genotypes 16, 18/45 (test code 91826), Trichomonas vaginalis RNA, Qualitative, TMA, Pap Vial (test code 90521), Chlamydia trachomatis RNA, TMA, Urogenital (test code 11361), Neisseria gonorrhoeae RNA, TMA, Urogenital (test code 11362), Chlamydia/Neisseria gonorrhoeae RNA, TMA, Urogenital (test code 11363)
Why co-testing?
Please see the important resource below.
Learn more about co-testing
Pap and HPV are screening tests for cervical cancer. They are not diagnostic tests when used as part of routine screening, and are subject to false negatives and false positive results. These tests are most reliable when a satisfactory sample, regularly obtained, is submitted with relevant clinical findings and history, and when the Pap and HPV results are evaluated along with historic and current clinical information.
To access all testing options for cervical cancer screening, please visit our test directory
Test codes may vary by location. Please contact your local laboratory for more information.
References:
- Bakouny Z, Paciotti M, Schmidt AL, et al. Cancer screening tests and cancer diagnoses during the COVID-19 pandemic. JAMA Oncol. 2021;7(3):458-460. doi: 10.1001/jamaoncol.2020.7600
- Peters B, Pfaff C. The impact of COVID-19 on cervical, breast cancer screenings. Pharm Times. 2022;4(3):19-21.
- Miller MJ, Xu L, Qin J, et al. Impact of COVID-19 on cervical cancer screening rates among women aged 21-65 years in a large integrated health care system — Southern California, January 1-September 30, 2019, and January 1-September 30, 2020. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2021;70(4):109-113. doi:10.15585/mmwr.mm7004a1
- Kaufman HW, Chen Z, Niles JK, et al. Changes in newly identified cancer among US patients from before COVID-19 through the first full year of the pandemic. JAMA Netw Open. 2021;4(8):e2125681. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.25681
- US Preventive Services Task Force. Final recommendation statement: cervical cancer: screening. August 21,2018. Accessed July 1, 2022. https://uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf/recommendation/cervical-cancer-screening
- ASCCP. Screening Guidelines. 2020. Accessed July 1, 2022. https://www.asccp.org/screening-guidelines
- American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Updated cervical cancer screening guidelines. Practice advisory. Updated April 2021. Accessed July 1, 2022. https://www.acog.org/clinical/clinical-guidance/practice-advisory/articles/2021/04/updated-cervical-cancer-screening-guidelines
- Kaufman HW, Alagia DP, Chen Z, et al. Contributions of liquid-based (Papanicolaou) cytology and human papillomavirus testing in co-testing for detection of cervical cancer and precancer in the United States. Am J Clin Pathol. 2020;154(4):510-516. doi:10.1093/ajcp/aqaa074
- ThinPrep® 2000 system [package insert]. MAN-02624-001 Rev. 004. Hologic, Inc.; 2017.
- Aptima HPV Assay (package insert) AW-10958 Rev. 002, 2015-02. Hologic, Inc.; 2017.
- Monsonego J, Hudgens MG, Zerat L, et al. Evaluation of oncogenic human papillomavirus RNA and DNA tests with liquid-based cytology in primary cervical cancer screening: the FASE study. Int J Cancer. 2011;129(3):691-701. doi:10.1002/ijc.25726
- Cuzick J, Cadman L, Mesher D, et al. Comparing the performance of six human papillomavirus tests in a screening population. Br J Cancer. 2013;108(4):908-913. doi:10.1038/bjc.2013.22
