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The most common test used for cervical cancer screening in the United States is the Pap test. Since the mid-1950s, screening with the Pap test has dramatically reduced the number of deaths from cervical cancer. Even so, the American Cancer Society estimates that there were more than 11,000 new cases of invasive cervical cancer in 2007, as well as nearly 4,000 deaths from the disease.
Despite the success of Pap testing in reducing mortality from cervical cancer in the United States, it does have limitations. One such limitation is poor sensitivity of individual Pap smears, which means the test misses cancers or precancerous changes. As a result, regular and repeated Pap testing is required to effectively detect a high proportion of cervical cancers. Another limitation is that approximately 2 million of the 50 million Pap tests performed annually in the United States have equivocal results, which are known as ASC-US. These women are often subjected to additional invasive tests, including biopsies, most of which prove negative.
About Gen-Probe
Gen-Probe Incorporated is a global leader in the development, manufacture and marketing of rapid, accurate and cost-effective nucleic acid tests (NATs) that are used primarily to diagnose human diseases and screen donated human blood. Gen-Probe has approximately 25 years of NAT expertise, and received the 2004 National Medal of Technology, America's highest honor for technological innovation, for developing NAT assays for blood screening. Gen-Probe is headquartered in San Diego and employs approximately 1,000 people. For more information, go to http://www.gen-probe.com.
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