Cervical cancer screening: state of the art.

Screening for cervical cancer, the most common form of cancer in women in most developing countries and the second commonest in women in the world as a whole, presents many challenges. Cervical cancer is preventable and it should be a high priority in all national cancer control programmes. It would seem as though, to be highly effective, various methods warrant joint usage, i.e. cytology with virological studies. Their use in both the developed and developing world offer much hope, as does the recent arrival of a physical method for detection.