DEVELOPMENT OF CONSENSUS GUIDELINES FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF CYTOLOGICAL ABNORMALITIES AND CERVICAL INTRAEPITHELIAL NEOPLASIA
The American Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology (ASCCP) is planning to hold a consensus meeting on September 18-19, 2006, at the National Cancer Institute’s Natcher Conference Center, in Bethesda, MD to revise the 2001 Consensus Guidelines for the Management of Cytological Abnormalities and Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia (CIN).  The 2001 Guidelines have become the standard for management of these clinical problems, and revisions have profound impact on practice during the remainder of this time. Each year approximately 50 million Papanicolaou tests (cervical cytologic samples) are taken in the United States and of these, approximately 7% are classified as abnormal.

The goal of the ASCCP Consensus Conference is to revise the 2001 Guidelines based on new evidence that has appeared since the last evidence review in 2000.  The revised Guidelines should aid clinicians of all subspecialties in the management of abnormal Papanicolaou tests and CIN.

Working committees composed of representatives of the ASCCP, the American Cancer Society (ACS), the Society of Gynecological Oncology (SGO), the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the College of American Pathologists (CAP), the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and others have already performed comprehensive literature reviews of various aspects of Papanicolaou test management. New committees have been created to evaluate special management algorithms for young women and women with abnormal results of HPV DNA testing.

The working committees also are developing draft guidelines based on a critical evaluation of the published literature.  These draft guidelines will be made available for public comment through internet-based bulletin boards that will be monitored by the working committees. After the public comment period is concluded, the draft guidelines will be taken off the internet and revised to reflect the public comments. Once revised, the guidelines and the comprehensive literature reviews will be rated to include an indication of the quality of clinical evidence supporting the specific recommendation and the strength of the recommendation. Revised guidelines will be sent to invited participants of the ASCCP Consensus Conference for review and additional comments. Invited participants will include approximately 150 selected experts in the fields of gynecological cytology, pathology, and management of cervical disease, all of whom will serve as appointed delegates of the sponsoring medical organizations and Federal agencies (see Conference Home page for sponsors’ list). 

Based on the comments from the invited participants, the guidelines will again be revised by the working committees to reflect the "consensus view" of the participants. The resulting Consensus Guidelines for the Management of Cytological Abnormalities and Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia will then be presented to the invited participants at the ASCCP Consensus Conference on September 18-19, 2006 where they will be discussed, modified as necessary, and then voted on.