WILMINGTON PATHOLOGY BECOMES REGIONAL LEADER IN THE DETECTION OF CERVICAL CANCER
Area’s leader in women’s healthcare offers
advanced cervical cancer screening system
Wilmington, N.C. - November 5, 2003 - Wilmington Pathology announced the implementation of the ThinPrep® Imaging System for cervical cancer screening. The ThinPrep Imaging System, approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), is the first fully integrated, interactive computer system that assists cytotechnologists and pathologists in the primary screening of the ThinPrep Pap Test slides. The ThinPrep Imaging System combines revolutionary imaging technology with human interpretive expertise to improve cervical cancer screening efficiency and performance. Wilmington Pathology has been offering the ThinPrep Pap Test since it opened its laboratory in 2000 and will use the ThinPrep Imaging System for all cervical screening.
“Wilmington Pathology is committed to providing our patients with the best new technology to detect disease early and the ThinPrep System enables us to do that,” said Gregory S. Henderson, M.D., Ph.D. “Using the ThinPrep System offers significant improvements over previous screening technologies. We are excited to be the first laboratory in the Southeastern United States to implement this technology.”
According to the National Cancer Institute, approximately
15,000 women in the United States are diagnosed with cervical
cancer each year and about 5,000 die of the disease. Cervical
cancer is almost 100 percent curable if detected early. More
than 30 published studies with more than 500,000 patients
have demonstrated the improved performance of the liquid-based
ThinPrep Pap Test compared to the conventional Pap smear.
Due to the advent of the Imaging System, the ThinPrep®
Pap Test will achieve an even greater degree of performance.
Clinical trials to date have shown a 6.4% increase for sensitivity,
for ASC-US+ cases, over manual review alone. The Imager System
prescreens Pap slides and selects 22 fields of diagnostic
relevance. The “electronic eye” of the Imager
is able to discern cellular features beyond that of a human
eye, such as measuring the DNA content within a nucleus of
a cell. This process allows cytotechnologists to concentrate
their time and diagnostic skills on the selected areas of
“importance.”
About the ThinPrep Pap Test:
A meta-analysis published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology concluded that the ThinPrep Pap Test improves diagnosis of low-grade (LSIL) and high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSIL) compared to the conventional Pap smear. The article also demonstrated improved sample adequacy with the ThinPrep method. Currently, approximately 70 percent of all Pap tests in the U.S. utilize the ThinPrep Pap Test.
The ThinPrep Pap Test is a liquid-based test that employs a fluid medium to collect and preserve cervical cells. Specimens are first collected by the clinician with a cervical sampling device as is normally done so there is no difference for the patient; then, instead of smearing the cells on a slide, the device is rinsed into a ThinPrep vial containing PreservCyt® transport medium, capturing virtually all of the cells. The specimen is then sent to the laboratory where a ThinPrep Processor eliminates obscuring debris and distributes a uniform, representative thin-layer of cells on a microscope slide. The ThinPrep System improves the quality of the specimen, which can result in more accurate diagnoses and fewer unnecessary repeat tests.
Cytyc and ThinPrep are registered trademarks of Cytyc Corporation.
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