A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF LIQUID‑BASED CYTOLOGY VERSUS THE CONVENTIONAL PAPANICOLAOU SMEAR FOR CERVICAL CANCER SCREENING

Irum Naz; Farzana Gul; Musrat Mustafa Shah; Asma Kashif; Madhu Bala; Momy Gul

Authors

Irum Naz Consultant Gynaecology and Obs Principal Medical officer, Linar Hospital Larkana Pakistan. Author
Farzana Gul Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, Bolan Medical Complex Hospital Quetta Pakistan. Author
Musrat Mustafa Shah Senior Registrar Gynaecology and Obs, National Medical Centre Karachi Pakistan. Author
Asma Kashif Consultant Gynaecologist and Assistant Professor Gynaecology and Obs, Almana General Hospital Group Al Jubail Saudi Arabia. Author
Madhu Bala Associate Professor Gynaecology and Obs, Muhammad Medical and Dental College Mirpurkhas Pakistan. Author
Momy Gul Associate Professor Gynaecology and Obs, Bolan Medical College Quetta Pakistan. Author

Keywords:

Cervical Cytology, Papanicolaou Smear, Liquid‑Based Cytology, Cervical Cancer Screening, Bethesda System.

Abstract

Background: Due to screening with cervical cytology, mortality rates caused by cervical cancer reduced significantly. Two methods are regularly applied to cytological evaluation: the standard Papanicolaou (Pap) smear and liquid-based cytology (LBC). Even though LBC has been found to have a significant diagnostic benefit in comparison with other populations, the comparative data are still scarce. This paper compared the diagnostic value of LBC and the traditional pap smear in the diagnosis of cervical epithelial lesions.

Duration and Place of Study: This study was conducted at Larkana Institute of Nuclear Medicine & Radiotherapy / Shaikh zaid women Hospital Larkana from December 2024 to December 2025.

Methods: 94 females were under screening of cervical cancer. Out of them, 41 samples were done in LBC and 53 by the traditional Pap smear method. A cytological examination was done on all the cytological specimens and reported following the Bethesda System of Reporting Cervical Cytopathology.

Results: The age range of the participants was 39.46+ _ 11.14 years in mean. In total, 97.8 percent of samples were good enough to be assessed. The inadequacy rate of the conventional pap smear was 3.7 and that of the LBC was 0. The majority of the specimens (95.7) were reported to be negative in regard to intraepithelial lesion or malignancy. In all samples, 2.1% of squamous epithelial abnormalities were detected. LBC showed a better detection rate of squamous intraepithelial lesions (4.8) over that of the conventional Pap smear (0%). The abnormalities of glandular findings were found in the LBC samples and traditional Pap smears (2.4 and 1.8, respectively).

Conclusion: LBC had a higher rate of detection of cervical epithelial abnormalities than the conventional Pap smear. The results indicate that LBC should be further adopted as a means of cervical cancer screening.