According to statistics, during preventive gynaecological check-ups women are often diagnosed with pre-cancerous cervical conditions. Each year in Lithuania about 500 cases of cervical cancer are identified, and more than 200 women die of this insidious disease every year. But specialists confirm that a diagnosis made in time ensures successful treatment of an early stage of cervical cancer.

Our clinic's obstetrician-gynaecologists remind us that every woman who cares about her health, even with no complaints and feeling no symptoms, should come for a preventive check with a gynaecologist once a year. Only by having regular preventive health checks can you notice signs of a developing disease, diagnose it in time and prescribe effective treatment.

Cervical cancer can be caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV), which brings about changes in the cells of the cervix that can turn into cancer over the years. Cervical cancer isn't contracted all at once. It develops over roughly 10–20 years if pre-cancerous cervical conditions go untreated. A woman doesn't feel the primary cell changes. They can be detected in only one way – a preventive check – so it's extremely important for the prevention of cervical cancer.

To avoid this insidious disease, women should have a cervical oncocytological PAP or ThinPrep®PAP test every year. During the painless procedure, cervical epithelial cells are taken, later examined under a microscope, and any changes found are assessed. The sensitivity of a PAP smear is about 50–60%, whereas the ThinPrep®PAP method has a much higher sensitivity – about 90–98%. According to research, ThinPrep®PAP finds more pre-cancerous cervical changes, so for more accurate data it's recommended to do the cytological test with this method. Its advantage is also that after a cervical cytological test using the ThinPrep®PAP method finds no changes in the cells, it's enough for prevention to repeat the test after 3 years. A PAP smear, meanwhile, is recommended to be repeated once a year.

Under a state-funded prevention programme, women aged 25 to 60 covered by compulsory health insurance have a cervical cytological test (PAP test) done free of charge once every 3 years.

Still, AND clinic obstetrician-gynaecologists emphasise that to notice pre-cancerous changes in time and treat them before cancer develops, it's important to have this test done every year, because the earlier the disease is diagnosed, the better the prognosis for treatment.