Doctors have suggested that women should take the Pap test

Doctors have suggested that women should take the Pap test every three years to screen for cervical cancer. Since the Pap test is meant to detect abnormalities that may lead to invasive cervical cancer, these abnormalities can be treated before cancer develops. Most invasive cancers of the cervix can be prevented if women have Pap tests regularly.

The answer to which of the following questions would be most important in determining whether implementing the suggestion is likely to achieve the desired result?

A) What percent of women in whom abnormalities are detected actually get invasive cancer of the cervix?
B) What is the time lag between appearance of abnormalities and subsequent development of cervical cancer?
C) Do the insurance companies cover the cost of Pap test?
D) Are the causes of development of abnormalities identified?
E) Do we have treatment for the abnormalities so that cancer does not develop?

--B--
The sequence is

Appearance of abnormalities....Cancer

After Pap Test:
Appearance of abnormalities....PapTest--> Treatment ---> Cancer

To take the Pap Test after the Appearance of abnormalities & before the development of Cancer, we must know the time lag between appearance of abnormalities and subsequent development of cervical cancer.

Doctors have suggested that women should take the Pap test every three years to screen for cervical cancer.

But what if the abnormalities cause cervical cancer in less than 3 years after their appearance? What if they do so in a matter of days, weeks or months? In that case, screening once every three years would be useless in preventing the development of cervical cancer from abnormalities. --> B

Isn't the doctors have already calculated the time lag and based on that they have suggested them to take the pep test in a time interval of 3 years otherwise what is the basis for the advice for taking the pep test in the interval of 3 years.

Can someone answer this???

the technique POE still works; it helps to eliminate 4 wrong option choices. B looks wrong at the first glance, but B makes the most sense here.
"these abnormalities can be treated before cancer develop" helps to eliminate E. SUch pattern is quite common in gmat.
As ones can see, the assumption question with a question to evaluate sometimes is slightly different from other assumption questions.

The correct option is (B). Let me explain each of the options one by one.

(A) What percent of women in whom abnormalities are detected actually get invasive cancer of the cervix?

This question is not as important in determining whether implementing the suggestion of taking the Pap test every three years is likely to achieve the desired result. While it is important to know how often abnormalities detected on the Pap test progress to invasive cancer, it does not necessarily impact the effectiveness of regular Pap tests in detecting and treating abnormalities before they become cancerous. Therefore, this option is not the most important.

(B) What is the time lag between appearance of abnormalities and subsequent development of cervical cancer?

This option is the most important in determining whether implementing the suggestion of taking the Pap test every three years is likely to achieve the desired result. The time lag between the appearance of abnormalities and subsequent development of cancer determines how often abnormalities can be detected and treated before they become invasive cervical cancer. A long enough time lag would make regular Pap tests effective in preventing most cases of invasive cervical cancer.

(C) Do the insurance companies cover the cost of Pap test?

While insurance coverage is important for patients to receive the recommended tests, it does not impact the effectiveness of regular Pap tests in detecting and treating abnormalities before they become invasive cervical cancer. Therefore, this option is not the most important in determining whether implementing the suggestion of taking the Pap test every three years is likely to achieve the desired result.

(D) Are the causes of development of abnormalities identified?

While understanding the causes of cervical abnormalities is important for research and development of treatments, it does not necessarily impact the effectiveness of regular Pap tests in detecting and treating abnormalities before they become invasive cervical cancer. Therefore, this option is not the most important in determining whether implementing the suggestion of taking the Pap test every three years is likely to achieve the desired result.

(E) Do we have treatment for the abnormalities so that cancer does not develop?

While having treatment for abnormalities is important, it does not necessarily impact the effectiveness of regular Pap tests in detecting and treating abnormalities before they become invasive cervical cancer. Regular Pap tests are meant to detect abnormalities early, so that they can be treated before they become cancerous. Therefore, while this option is important, it is not the most important in determining whether implementing the suggestion of taking the Pap test every three years is likely to achieve the desired result.