Every year hundreds of women are given cervical smear surgery needlessly those who are with borderline results. They are given invasive treatment which increases their chances of suffering complications in future pregnancies. Many of these treatments are entirely pointless, as there may be no tumor, or it may so small that it would disappear naturally.
Some 2,700 women are diagnosed with Cervical Cancer every year & around 1,000 die. In screening it is found that women aged 25 & above shown sign of pre-cancerous cells that may develop into tumors. It claims screening saves around 4500 lives a year. Many women with positive results are referred for a procedure known as a colposcopy to carry out a more detailed investigation.
Many specialists argue the operation should only happen if a biopsy proves it is cancerous. For those whose tests reveal only mild changes or borderline results, invasive treatment can do more harm than good. The study concluded that while the colposcopy detected more serious lesions.
The study could lead to over treatment, because they could sometimes return to normal of their own accord. The study of women aged 20-59 whose results showed the borderline or mild abnormalities also revealed a higher rate of after-effects. These included pain, bleeding & complications in later pregnancies.
They conclude that there is no clear benefit of a policy of immediate colposcopy. Although it detects more CIN grade II or more severe disease. It leads to a large number of referrals with no high-grade CIN. Over treatment with associated after effects in young women & no clear psychological benefit.
