Trial reportBMJ (Clinical research ed.)2007
Accuracy of liquid based versus conventional cytology: overall results of new technologies for cervical cancer screening: randomised controlled trial.
Trial report in BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 2007. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 58 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
58 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Liquid-Based Cytology in Cervical Cancer Screening: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Acta cytologica · 2026Pooled it
- Frequency of unsatisfactory cervical cytology smears in cancer screening of Japanese women: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Cancer science · 2018Pooled it
- The Korean guideline for cervical cancer screening.Journal of gynecologic oncology · 2015Guideline
- European Guidelines for Quality Assurance in Cervical Cancer Screening. Second edition--summary document.Annals of oncology : official journal of the European Society for Medical Oncology · 2010Guideline
- Informed cytology for triaging HPV-positive women: substudy nested in the NTCC randomized controlled trial.Journal of the National Cancer Institute · 2015Trial
- Primary cervical cancer screening with HPV testing compared with liquid-based cytology: results of round 1 of a randomised controlled trial -- the HPV FOCAL Study.British journal of cancer · 2012Trial
- Age-specific patterns of unsatisfactory results for conventional Pap smears and liquid-based cytology: data from two randomised clinical trials.BJOG : an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology · 2010Trial
- Trial
- Options for managing low grade cervical abnormalities detected at screening: cost effectiveness study.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2009Trial
- Comparative Analysis of Quality of Cell Collected from the Cervix: Conventional versus Liquid-Based Cytology.Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention : APJCP · 2026Observational
- Effectiveness of Visual Inspection and Liquid-Based Cytology in Screening Asymptomatic Women for Cervical Neoplasia.Journal of pharmacy & bioallied sciences · 2025Article
- Article
- Analysis of effectiveness in an artificial intelligent film reading system combined with liquid based cytology examination for cervical cancer screening.American journal of translational research · 2024Article
- The Efficiency of Cervical Pap and Comparison of Conventional Pap Smear and Liquid-Based Cytology: A Review.Cureus · 2023Review
- Article
- Comparison of Breast Cancer and Cervical Cancer in Uzbekistan and Korea: The First Report of The Uzbekistan-Korea Oncology Consortium.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2022Review
- A retrospective analysis of serous effusions based on the newly proposed international system for reporting serous fluid cytopathology: a report of 3633 cases in an oncological center.Diagnostic pathology · 2022Article
- Article
- Computer-aided diagnosis of cervical dysplasia using colposcopic images.Frontiers in oncology · 2022Article
- New Trends in the Detection of Gynecological Precancerous Lesions and Early-Stage Cancers.Cancers · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
16 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo compare the accuracy of conventional cytology with liquid based cytology for primary screening of cervical cancer.
designRandomised controlled trial.
settingNine screening programmes in Italy.
participantsWomen aged 25-60 attending for a new screening round: 22 466 were assigned to the conventional arm and 22 708 were assigned to the experimental arm.
interventionsConventional cytology compared with liquid based cytology and testing for human papillomavirus.
main outcome measureRelative sensitivity for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia of grade 2 or more at blindly reviewed histology, with atypical cells of undetermined significance or more severe cytology considered a positive result.
resultsIn an intention to screen analysis liquid based cytology showed no significant increase in sensitivity for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia of grade 2 or more (relative sensitivity 1.17, 95% confidence interval 0.87 to 1.56) whereas the positive predictive value was reduced (relative positive predictive value v conventional cytology 0.58, 0.44 to 0.77). Liquid based cytology detected more lesions of grade 1 or more (relative sensitivity 1.68, 1.40 to 2.02), with a larger increase among women aged 25-34 (P for heterogeneity 0.0006), but did not detect more lesions of grade 3 or more (relative sensitivity 0.84, 0.56 to 1.25). Results were similar when only low grade intraepithelial lesions or more severe cytology were considered a positive result. No evidence was found of heterogeneity between centres or of improvement with increasing time from start of the study. The relative frequency of women with at least one unsatisfactory result was lower with liquid based cytology (0.62, 0.56 to 0.69).
conclusionLiquid based cytology showed no statistically significant difference in sensitivity to conventional cytology for detection of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia of grade 2 or more. More positive results were found, however, leading to a lower positive predictive value. A large reduction in unsatisfactory smears was evident.
trial registrationCurrent Controlled Trials ISRCTN81678807 [controlled-trials.com].
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.