Zervixkarzinom-Screening – Status quo?

The reformed German cervical cancer screening includes new knowledge on human papillomavirus (HPV) infection gained over time, which is closely associated with the development of cervical cancer and also concepts for implementation of an organized cancer screening. In comparison to a purely cytological examination, the additional detection of cervical cancer precursor lesions can also be greatly improved by the HPV testing. Through the early examination of patients positive for HPV with low-grade cytological changes, even higher grade cancer precursor lesions could be detected early but the diagnostic clarification units are stretched to capacity due to the increased number of patients. Whether the current implementation of the cervical cancer screening can influence the incidence and mortality of cervical cancer under optimal utilization of available resources, must be evaluated further over a longer observational period.