For Release: IMMEDIATE
Date: February 3, 2006

N.C. First in Country to Use More Efficient Cervical Cancer Screening Tool

RALEIGH – The North Carolina State Laboratory of Public Health is the first public health laboratory in the country to switch to a new cervical cancer screening tool. Prior to the switch, pap tests were manually screened. The new system uses a computer-imaging system to help laboratory professionals locate areas on the slide that have a higher probability of containing abnormal cells that may indicate cancer.

“We process more than 110,000 pap tests a year at the state laboratory,” said Acting Laboratory Director Dr. Leslie Wolf. “This new technology will help us improve the timeliness and quality of pap results. North Carolinian women who rely on us to read their pap smears can be assured that they are getting the best analysis possible.”

The system was field tested during a six-month study in 2005. A comparison of tests run with the new system versus tests run with the older system showed that there was a decrease in false results and an increase in the detection of cancer cells. There was also increased productivity because the new system allows the laboratory professionals to spend less time manually screening pap tests.

“Every year our public health laboratory is asked to perform more tests, but the resources haven’t grown at the same rate,” said Dr. Wolf. “This test allows us to use human resources more wisely, while improving the lives of North Carolinian women through more effective cervical cancer screening.”

The North Carolina State Laboratory of Public Health provides laboratory support to local health departments, hospitals, commercial laboratories and other state agencies. The lab runs more than one million tests a year, testing for a variety of conditions including cervical cancer, sexually transmitted diseases, food borne illnesses, mosquito-borne illnesses, newborn genetic disorders, and rabies, as well as environmental testing to fulfill the requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act.

###