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 under-screened.
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 screening protection: 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 identifies more cases of cancer and precancer than either test alone.
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
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
22.5% of cancers would not have been identified with HPV alone8
Data <12 months of cancer diagnosis
Co-testing versus Pap alone
11% of precancers would not have been identified with Pap alone8
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 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
While we offer a choice of Pap collection systems,
Quest Diagnostics recommends the ThinPrep® Pap test
due to its proven clinical performance.
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 screening: 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 |
Why co-testing?
Please see these important resources below.
Learn more about co-testing
Quest Diagnostics Health Trends® study
Quest Diagnostics Health Trends® study
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
