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What Doctors Want You to Know About Cervical Cancer Screening
The New York Times • • health
Key Points:
- New cervical cancer screening options and updated recommendations aim to reduce the incidence of this preventable disease, which still causes over 250,000 deaths globally each year.
- Cervical cancer prevention relies on testing for precancerous cells and vaccination against human papillomavirus (HPV), the primary cause of cervical cell abnormalities.
- Barriers such as limited access to care and discomfort with pelvic exams, especially among sexual assault survivors, hinder screening rates, but alternative testing methods are becoming available.
- Traditional Pap smears remain common, but HPV testing, which can detect risk earlier, now includes self-collection options approved by the FDA for in-office use in 2024 and at-home use in 2025, showing accuracy comparable to clinician-collected samples.
