Not exactly. Pap (Pap Smear) test is a short form of Papanicolaou test that includes collecting the cells from the cervix and examining them through a microscope. A pap test detects changes in the cervical cells to recommend a prognosis for cervical cancer.
Doctors often recommend asymptomatic women routinely undergo pap tests to detect cervical cancer. A study has shown that the pap test has reduced the burden of cervical cancer to a great extent in the USA.
However, doctors generally do not recommend pap tests to detect ovarian cancer. Usually, a pap test cannot detect ovarian cancer until the cancer cells have reached the cervix. As cancer cells rarely move through ovaries, fallopian tubes and uterus to reach the cervix, a pap test is not a reliable option to screen ovarian cancer.
Till now, there is no single reliable screening tool to confirm ovarian cancer at an early stage. Doctors often perform a few tests from the pelvic exam, transvaginal ultrasound and CA-125 blood test to confirm ovarian cancer.
However, a recent study has shown that a pap test can be developed to detect ovarian cancer because the collected samples contain tumour-specific biomarkers of ovarian cancer. According to this study, a pap test can be modified to screen these biomarkers and detect ovarian cancer.
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