USPSTF Updates Cervical Cancer Screening Guidelines

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) released new guidelines on screening for cervical cancer. The guidelines continue to recommend screening for cervical cancer every 3 years with Pap testing alone in women 21 to 29 years of age. For the first time, however, the guidelines recommend screening every 3 years with Pap testing alone, every 5 years with high-risk HPV testing alone, or every 5 years with high-risk HPV testing in combination with cytology in women 30 to 65 years of age. Women under 21 years of age should not be screened, nor should women older than 65 years of age who have had adequate prior screening and are not at high risk for cervical cancer, per the guidelines. 

New cervical cancer screening recommendations have started to make old-fashioned Pap smears a thing of the past for women over 30. https://t.co/P17FLQLNC9

— NBC News (@NBCNews) August 22, 2018

Annual Pap testing used to be recommended, but studies have shown that less frequent screening can still identify cancer early and that HPV testing does not need to be done with Pap testing at the same time. 

https://twitter.com/OncologyNursing/status/1032040936275144704

The USPSTF reviewed clinical trials and cohort studies that evaluated screening with high-risk HPV testing alone or high-risk HPV and Pap testing together compared with Pap testing alone. The USPSTF also commissioned a decision analysis model to evaluate the age at which to begin and end screening, the optimal interval for screening, the effectiveness of different screening strategies, and related benefits and harms of different screening strategies. 

HPV test identifies cervical precancer earlier than Pap test. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says cancer screening rates are improving, but still lagging. 

Source: JAMA