In the last couple of weeks, women have flocked to private clinics to check themselves for cervical cancer. – They ask if they can trust the pap smear, a gynecologist tells VG.
The increase occurs after Maren (28) came forward in The TV 2 documentary series “Norway behind the facade” and talked about how she was diagnosed with cervical cancer after a misinterpreted pap smear.
Subsequently, Aleris, Dr. Dropin and Volvat have all registered far more inquiries than usual, the clinics inform VG:
- Dr. Dropin has taken twice as many cervical tests compared to the same period last year.
- Aleris also reports a doubling in the number of cervical tests compared to last year.
- At Volvat, the number of inquiries to gynecologists has increased by 70 per cent. The clinic states that they do not have figures on the number of cervical tests specifically.
VG has asked the Norwegian Cancer Registry if they have noted an increase in the public health system, but they have not yet received figures for the most recent period.
– We have clearly noticed a greater increase in women who are worried, and not least worried about whether they can trust the tests, says gynecologist Ole Aleksander Dyrkorn, who works at Aleris Majorstuen in central Oslo.
– What do the women who come to you say?
– They ask if they can trust the pap smear, if they should test themselves more often than is recommended – and they say that they are afraid that they may have undetected cancer, says the gynaecologist.
In the TV 2 programme, viewers heard that half of women in the age group 25–34 with high-grade cell changeshigh-grade cell changesprecursors to cancer, does not is captured by the cervical smear.
Together with a number of subsequent media reports, this has led to many people now believing that half of all cell samples are misinterpreted, according to The Cancer Society.
VG has also written about it the case, and that Norway is worst in class in Scandinavia when it comes to fighting cervical cancer.
– Not a lottery
The Norwegian Cancer Society reminds that the margin of error in the Cancer Register’s cervix program is 0.01 per cent – not 50.
– So it’s not a lottery. These are small numbers, says Secretary General of the Cancer Association Ingrid Stenstadvold Ross to VG.
– But each and every one of these women is one too many. It is absolutely terrible to hear these women’s stories. It’s so brutal. We have no one to lose to this disease.
Since 2015, approximately 350 women in Norway have been diagnosed with cervical cancer on average, according to figures from the Cancer Registry.
In 2021 the number was 345. In 2020 the number was 355 and in 2019 the number was 393.
Without the Cervix Programme, the number would have been much higher. Every year, the screening program saves at least 700 women annually from getting cervical cancer, according to The Directorate of Health.
Happy with new test method
But not everyone is caught.
In 2021, around 100,000 Norwegian women aged 25–33 were tested for cervical cancer. Of these, 13 were diagnosed with cancer – despite the fact that the test results at the last test were normal, according to figures VG has received from the Cancer Registry.
In 2020, this figure was 18.
– How confident can you be that the Pap test results are correct?
– You can be sure that the results are correct, but we are very happy about the change that is now coming, says general manager of Dr. Dropin, Daniel Sørli, to VG.
Starting this year, the samples of women over 30 are checked with an HPV test instead of with a microscope. The method is safer than a microscope and will be extended to women over 25 in the summer.
The doubling in the number of cervical tests at Dr. Dropin applies particularly to young women, says Sørli.
Norway has been slower than neighboring countries to reduce the cervical cancer rate among the youngest. The proportion of cancer cases in the 25–34 age group has fallen faster in both Sweden and Denmark.
Only in 2019 did Norway begin to see the same development:
I think Norway will follow
Sweden has as goal to eradicate cervical cancer within a five-year period. Norway is aiming for one “almost” extinction by 2039, despite the fact that the Norwegian Cancer Society believes that five years would be possible here as well.
– Are we doing enough?
– As a gynecologist, I think we have a good system in Norway, and a system that is comparable to the other countries, says Aleris gynecologist Dyrkorn.
He believes the lag is due to the fact that Norway was slower than its neighbors in introducing the HPV vaccine.
Norway introduced the HPV vaccine for girls in the 7th grade in 2009. In 2018, the offer was extended to boys.
Women in the age group 1991–1996 were only offered the HPV vaccine from November 2016 to June 2019.
– I think we will follow. I don’t see that we do anything fundamentally different from the others when it comes to testing and screening, says Dyrkorn.
However, Norway was also behind in introducing HPV testing. Dyrkorn says it is a difficult trade-off: on the one hand, you want to prevent women from getting cervical cancer. On the other, one does not want to subject women to potentially unnecessary and unpleasant examinations.
– In the vast majority of cases, the infection will go away on its own. HPV testing will therefore catch more cases of cell changes that will never develop into cancer, explains the gynaecologist.
– There will always be someone who falls outside, and this is of course very sad for those concerned.
He encourages all women to get tested in line with the recommendations of the Cervical Cervical Programme, and to check themselves if they develop symptoms – also if they are younger than 25.
– If you get symptoms – such as irregular bleeding, bleeding after sex or abnormal discharge – you should see a doctor regardless of whether the last cervical smear was normal. This also applies to the youngest, says Dyrkorn.
