Guidelines for cervical cancer screenings

When should a woman be screened for cervical cancer? Here are guidelines from the American Cancer Society.

Women should get Pap tests to screen for cervical cancer starting at age 21 or three years after they become sexually active. With standard Pap tests, annual screening is advised; with the liquid-based Pap test, the test is recommended every other year.

At age 30, women who have had three normal test results in a row may be screened less often — every two to three years with the Pap test or every three years if combining a Pap test with an HPV test.

Women with certain risk factors should be screened annually. Such factors include a history of precancers in the cervix, a weakened immune system, or if their mother took the synthetic estrogen DES (diethylstilbestrol) during pregnancy.

Women who have had a total hysterectomy (including removal of the cervix) need not be screened.

At age 70, women who have had three consecutive normal test results may choose to stop being screened.

—Jill U. Adams

Source: American Cancer Society