BEIJING, Nov. 3 (Xinhuanet) -- Women with a high risk of cervical cancer and limited access to health care could benefit from two new simplified types of screening , US doctors are reporting today.

    Both approaches involve testing women for precancerous growths on the cervix, getting results quickly and offering to treat the women immediately instead of requiring that they come back to the clinic.

    The usual method of screening is the Pap test, in which cells are scraped from the cervix and sent to a laboratory and examined for precancerous changes. Growths can then be removed before they turn cancerous.

    But women must generally wait days or weeks for the results and then, if something is wrong, make three or four more doctor visits for further tests and treatment.

    "The optimal way to screen is the Pap smear. Unfortunately, it's just not possible in some underserved areas, including in our own country," said Dr. Kevin Holcomb, director of gynecologic oncology at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City. "We need creative alternatives. Both these studies show that we can devise alternatives proven to be effective."

    The study involved 6,555 women aged 35 to 65 in Khayelitsha, South Africa. All women were screened using two non-cytology-based assays: DNA testing for human papillomavirus virus (HPV), the virus which causes cervical cancer, and visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA).

    The women then were divided into three groups. In the first group, only the women testing positive for HPV were given cryotherapy, a procedure in which cells on the cervix are destroyed by freezing them with nitrous oxide. In the second group, only the women who tested positive for precancerous lesions had cryotherapy.

    The third group waited six months for treatment.

    The HPV test was more accurate than the inexpensive test, but both exams reduced the incidence of precancerous lesions; however, four of five women in the two groups who got immediate treatment had no precancerous condition.

    The findings appear in the Nov. 2 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

    (Agencies)