Pap smears cause cytokine response that may help clear HPV
Quoted from Reuters News: The Abramson Cancer Center, and the OncoLi nk Weekly Cancer Newsletter
Last Updated: 2007-05-14 12:55:06 -0400 (Reuters Health)
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – The act of performing a Papanicolaou smear produces an inflammatory cytokine response, which may initiate immunologic clearance of human papillomavirus (HPV) and reduce the risk of cervical cancer, South African investigators propose in the April 24th online issue of the Journal of Inflammation.
In a previous study, Dr. Jo-Ann S. Passmore and colleagues at the University of Cape Town conducted a case-control study of 2,064 South African women to investigate the incidence of invasive cervical cancer.
Women who had even a single Pap smear in their history had a lower incidence of cancer. Dr. Passmore’s team also observed that “a statistically significant decline in the HPV positivity rate correlated with the lifetime number of Pap smears received.”
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