[Outcome and future of mass screening for uterine cervical cancer]

Recent effort in the field of gynecologic malignancy has been most concentrated on an early diagnosis and early treatment for them, resulting in the brilliant fruits, that is, an apparent decrease in the mortality of patients with uterine cervical cancer. However, from the standpoint of efficacy, several problems still remain in the present mass population screening system for cervical cancer. Each problem should be resolved in the near future, and a further efficient and effective cancer detection system must be contributed. For this purpose, first of all, population screening at the clinical office must be promoted in order to increase the total number of examinees and to strengthen its system. Secondly, the systematic screening preventing the compliance of examinees should be carried out. Thirdly, increased capability of cytologic examination and adequate control for its diagnostic accuracy must be assured, and lastly, precise detection and follow-up system must be provided.