International Studies
An international study by Belinson et al. was published in the November 2001 issue of Gynecologic Oncology. This study was unique in that all patients - including those with negative cytology - underwent colposcopy with multiple biopsy. The study, conducted in Shanxi Province, China, evaluated a number of techniques for the detection of cervical neoplasia. All patients underwent HPV testing, fluorescence spectroscopy, the ThinPrep® Pap Test, a visual inspection diagnosis, and colposcopy with multiple biopsies. The study compared the performance of the various tests with respect to sensitivity and specificity using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. The authors report that, based on the ROC analysis, the ThinPrep Pap Test performed significantly better than the other procedures.¹

The National Cancer Screening Program in the United Kingdom conducted a pilot implementation trial of liquid-based cytology at three sites in England. The two sites that implemented the ThinPrep Pap Test demonstrated a significant increase in the detection of high-grade cervical lesions. Specimen adequacy was also significantly improved. The program has recently announced a conversion to liquid-based cytology. In Scotland, the screening program has completely converted to the ThinPrep Pap Test.^2-3