New adjunctive methods for cervical cancer screening

The sensitivity of cytology for detection of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) is effectively augmented by cervicography with the disadvantage of lower specificity. However, the combination of cytology and cervicography can decrease the number of recalls, biopsies, and unnecessary treatments, which reduces cost. Down-staging of invasive cancer by visual inspection seems a cost-effective alternative to the introduction of cytology in countries with limited health facilities. Other methods such as speculoscopy, polarprobe, laser-induced fluorescence, computerized digital imaging colposcopy, or computer imaging have a potential to be used for future screening or triaging; however, so far, insufficient data are available to evaluate the validity of these techniques.