30 years of preventive studies of uterine cervical cancer 1982-2012

The studies for the prevention of uterine cervical cancer in Panama City began in a private institute, impelled by the high incidence of cancer. The preventive programs were initiated with the support of the Obstetrics and Gynecology Institute of the University of Padua in Italy. In these studies, we applied the methodological diagnostics of this Institute with certain modifications adapted to our needs. The diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up were carried out under the protocol of the University of Padua. We achieved a diagnosis of oncogenic risk (OR) in 6,411 patients which corresponded to 5,498 cases of human papillomavirus (HPV), 1,150 cases of dysplasia, 210 cases of cancer, and 794 cases of OR. From 2011, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was also applied with the aim to improve the accuracy of the diagnosis. With this method the prevalence of pathologies were HPV infections both in healthy patients or in patients cured from HPV. Patients were treated by means of local destructive treatments (LDT), basically with cryotherapy and cauterization. We can consider these results as successful prevention and suggest to extend a preventive program to all the population.