The most common reason many women give to explain why they didn't receive regular Pap tests to screen for cervical cancer is that their doctors didn't recommend the test, according to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC; Atlanta) published in the May issue of the Journal of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention.

"Screening for cervical cancer is an important health issue. We are still losing too many lives because cervical cancer is preventable and curable, if detected early," said Steven Coughlin, PhD, of CDC's division of cancer prevention and control and lead author of the study. "Increased physician recommendations could help to significantly increase Pap screenings in the U.S."

The CDC analyzed data from the 2000 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) to determine if women in the U.S. had received a physician recommendation to get a Pap test. Study findings show that among women who had visited a doctor in the last year, but who had not had a recent Pap test, about 87% reported that their doctor had not recommended a Pap test in the last year. They cited this lack of a physician recommendation as a leading reason for not having the test in the last year.

This year there will be an estimated 10,370 new cases of cervical cancer diagnosed and about 3,710 women will die of the disease.

AlzheimAlert kit to go before FDA panel

Nymox Pharmaceutical (Maywood, New Jersey) said it has been informed that its premarket approval (PMA) application to the FDA for a kit version of its AlzheimAlert urine test will be go before a panel of the Medical Devices Advisory Committee in July.

That step follows the submission to the FDA of further data and analyses by the company. In the PMA, the company is seeking approval to sell kit versions of its AlzheimAlert test to laboratories and hospitals.

AlzheimAlert is Nymox's urine test intended to aid in the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. The test measures levels of a brain protein called neural thread protein known to be elevated in the brain tissue, cerebrospinal fluid and urine of patients with Alzheimer's.

AlzheimAlert is certified as a laboratory testing service in the U.S. through the company's CLIA-certified reference lab in Maywood. A kit version of AlzheimAlert is CE-marked.