Dr. Shastri on Vinegar as a Cervical Cancer Screening Tool

Surendra Srinivas Shastri, MD, Professor, Preventive Oncology, Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, India, discusses the results of a study looking at vinegar (acetic acid) as a cervical cancer screening tool.

In the large, randomized study, 150,000 women aged 35 to 64 from 20 slum clusters in Mumbai, India, were assigned either to screening every 2 years using visual inspection with vinegar or no cervical cancer screening.

The screening group received four rounds of vinegar screening and cancer education at 2-year intervals between 1998 and 2010 from primary health workers.

Notably, Shastri says, a 31% reduction in cervical cancer mortality was seen in the screening group (95% CI, 0.54-0.88; P = .0003).

Shastri said that an additional benefit was seen in having primary health workers conduct the screening and education program. Primary health workers can easily access women in their communities, especially in remote and rural areas, and benefit was seen because of the overall lack of sufficient nurses, physicians, and laboratory facilities in India and other developing countries.

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