The Pap smear isn't used to diagnose cancer, but it could be

The Pap smear involves a doctor looking cells taken from the cervix under a microscope

Doctors can find it hard to diagnose cervical cancer in young women because the same symptoms, such as bleeding between periods or after sex, are common in women with genital infections or taking contraceptives. For decades the Pap smear has been used as a screening test to prevent women from getting cervical cancer. It is not used as a screening test in women younger than 25 because it isn’t effective at preventing cancer in this age group. But what if the Pap smear could be used to diagnose cervical cancer in young women?

In our latest research, published in the