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Less Frequent Pap Tests Safe for Most Women, Ob/Gyn Group Says
New guidelines recommend cervical cancer screening every 3 to 5 years
By Steven ReinbergHealthDay Reporter
MONDAY, Oct. 22 (HealthDay News) -- Most women need testing for cervical cancer only every three to five years, rather than annually, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
For women aged 30 and older, the Pap test, as it is called, should be done along with a test for human papillomavirus (HPV) every five years, according to new guidelines released by the organization Monday.
"The yearly Pap test was an arbitrary decision when it was recommended years ago," said Dr. David Chelmow, chairman of obstetrics and gynecology at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center in Richmond.
This change should reassure women, because it is scientifically based on the results of several studies, said Chelmow, who led the development of the guidelines.
The college recommended women aged 30 to 65 get an HPV test along with the Pap test because "we know HPV is the cause of most cervical cancer," Chelmow said.
If both tests are normal, no further tests are needed for five years. If the HPV test is positive, more frequent testing is needed. And if both the HPV and Pap test are positive, further testing and treatment will be done, he said.
The guidelines, published online Oct. 22 and in the November print issue of the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology, are in line with recommendations released in March by the American Cancer Society, the American Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology and other medical groups.
Routine Pap testing has cut the rate of cervical cancer by more than 50 percent in the United States. "Women who develop cervical cancer are mostly those who have never been screened," Chelmow said.
According to the American Cancer Society, more than 12,000 women will be diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2012, and more than 4,000 will die from it.
For the Pap test, cells scraped from the cervix are examined under a microscope for signs of cancer or precancerous abnormalities.
