In gynecology, the Papanikolaou test or Papanicolaou test (also called Pap smear, Pap test, cervical smear, or smear test) is a medical screening method for detecting infectious, premalignant, and malignant processes in the ectocervix, endocervix and endometrium.

The pre-cancerous changes (called dysplasias or cervical or endocervical intraepithelial neoplasia) are usually caused by sexually transmitted human papillomaviruses (HPVs).

The test aims to detect and prevent the progression of HPV-induced cervical cancer and other abnormalities in the female genital tract by sampling cells from the outer opening of the cervix of the uterus and the endocervix.

For more information about the topic Pap smear, read the full article at Wikipedia.org, or see the following related articles:

HPV vaccine — Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine research focuses on the prevention of diseases, such as cervical cancer and genital warts, caused by sexually ...  > read more

HPV — Papillomaviruses are a diverse group of DNA-based viruses that infect the skin and mucous membranes of humans and a variety of animals (replicating ...  > read more

Cervical cancer — Cervical cancer is a malignancy of the cervix. Worldwide, it is the second most common cancer of women. It may present with vaginal bleeding but ...  > read more

Gynaecology — Gynaecology or gynecology literally means 'the science of women', but in medicine this is the specialty of diseases of the female reproductive ...  > read more

Editor's Note: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

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