NEW YORK, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- Doctors routinely advise that women undergoing screening for cervical cancer receive Pap smears every three years beginning at age 21, but women beginning at 30 have a new option now, according to the new guidelines issued on Tuesday by a national health services panel.
Instead of undergoing a pelvic exam, these patients may go to a doctor's office and collect their own vaginal sample to be tested for human papillomavirus, the infection that causes most cases of cervical cancer, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force said.
Self-collection of the sample was approved in May by the Food and Drug Administration. The HPV test should be repeated every five years from age 30 until 65, when most women can stop screening.
Other screening options for those 30 and older include continuing with Pap tests every three years, or a combined Pap smear and HPV test every five years, the task force said. But an HPV test every five years is the ideal screening method, providing the best balance of risks to benefits.
