NEW APPROACH TO DETECTION OF ABNORMAL CERVICAL CELLS

Optomagnetic Imaging Spectroscopy demonstrated high percentages of accuracy in biological sample classification, namely cervical, oral and colon samples. It enables detection of abnormal tissue and cells, and thus can be used as a diagnostic tool in screening programs. Papanicolaou smears and liquid based cytology samples were analysed in previous studies on cervical cancer detection by Optomagnetic Imaging Spectroscopy and it was shown that this method can diferentiate normal healthy tissue from the cancer tissue. So far, only binary classification of the cervical samples was performed based on optomagnetic spectra of the samples. In this paper, classification of the Papanicolaou smears into four groups (II, III, IV and V Papanicolaou groups) was tested with the Random Forest classification model that demonstrated interclass sensitivity of 49.25%, 58.97%, 50%, 44.44% for II, III, IV and V Papanicolaou group respectively, and specificity of 65.26%, 54.76%, 98.70% and 98.69% for II, III, IV and V Papanicolaou group respectively.

Cross-Sectional Study on Perceptions Regarding Cervical Cancer Screening and Human Papillomavirus Vaccination Among Female Patients in Rural Taiwan

PURPOSE Cervical cancer remains the eighth leading cause of cancer mortality among women in Taiwan. Despite availability of a National Health Insurance program with free yearly screenings, Papanicolaou testing and human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination rates have been historically low in Taiwan. Even in the United States, cervical cancer screening rates for Asian women are significantly lower than other ethnic groups. The goal is to direct future interventions by providing insight on barriers leading to low screening and vaccination rates among Taiwanese and Asian women. METHODS Anonymous surveys without patient identifiers were randomly administered to patients at a traditional Chinese medicine clinic in Hualien City in June 2018. Inclusion criterion was females. No exclusion criteria were defined. Participants provided written consent. Sixty-three completed surveys were received. A χ2 test was used to determine statistical significance (α = 0.05). RESULTS Formal education level correlated with increased knowledge of HPV ( P = .001), its route of transmission ( P = .044), its link to genital cancer ( P = .0024), and HPV vaccination ( P = .0039). Women were more likely to have Papanicolaou smears if they were older than 30 years of age ( P = .0033), visited the gynecologist ( P < .001), or were recommended one by their physicians ( P < .001). Although 57% of respondents knew of the HPV vaccine, only 19% were vaccinated. Among those not vaccinated, most cited reasons included an inability to find a physician providing it (23.5%), safety concerns (16.4%), belief that it encourages sexual behavior (14.5%), and high out-of-pocket expense (9.1%). CONCLUSION Knowledge of HPV does not predict a higher adherence to cervical screening guidelines. Instead, diligent physician recommendations on Papanicolaou smears can elevate adherence rates among patients. Significant contributors to low HPV vaccination rates in rural Taiwan include lack of awareness and access to the vaccine. Our study emphasizes the physician-patient relationship as a means to target vulnerable populations and increase rates of cervical cancer screening and HPV vaccination.