Cost of screening for cancerous and precancerous lesions of the cervix

This paper is part of the cost-effectiveness study of cervical cancer screening conducted by the French Society of Clinical Cytology (SFCC). It describes the evaluation of costs of conventional smear tests, thin-layer smear tests (ThinPrep 2000 system), and viral typing by the HCS(R) test. For 100,000 examinations per year, the average cost of a conventional smear test is $11.53 in a private anatomo-pathology clinic. The cost of the thin-layer test for the same number of examinations and in the same type of clinic is $13.93. For 20,000 annual tests, the average cost of human papillomavirus (HPV) is $23.43 in the public sector and $23.48 in the private one. The higher price of the thin-layer method is only justifiable if this screening technique outperforms the conventional method. Furthermore, the high cost of the HPV test means that its integration into a population-based screening program must be carefully defined. (C) 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc.