Objectives: Despite effective screening methods, most often tumor of the urogenital tract is still cancer of the uterine cervix. Proven in many countries the value of widespread screening of the precancerous lesions and cervical cancer justifies carrying out such prophylactic tests in Poland.
Design: Assessment of results of screening as a method of early detection of cancer of the uterine cervix among inhabitants of Łódź area.
Material and methods: Study was done between 1.07.2000 and 31.12.2000 among 5,000 women aged from 30 to 59 years, inhabitants of Łódź area. Smears were evaluated in five-grade Papanicolaou scale and according to TBS system. In cases of detection of erosion of the uterine cervix or abnormal results of cytological test (> or = III degree) biopsies were taken to make pathological diagnosis.
Results: 459 smears were qualified to group I according to Papanicolaou (9.18%), 4435 smears to group II (88.7%), 38 smears to II/III (0.76%), 65 smears to group III (1.3%), 2 smears to IV (0.04%) and 1 smear to V (0.02%). Due to histopathological verification of the cytological results 53 low grade cervical dysplasia (1.06%) were diagnosed, 8 dysplasia of medium grade (0.16%), 7 high grade dysplasia (0.14%), 3 pre-invasive cancers (0.06%) and 3 invasive cancers (0.06%).
Conclusions: Population of inhabitants of Łódź area aged 30 to 59 years old is characterised by a high frequency of incidence of pre-cancerous conditions and invasive cervical cancer. Number of detected pathologies of the uterine cervix proves purposefulness of this project.