Don’t get two when one will do.
Instead of getting both a Pap test and an HPV test to screen for cervical cancer, many women should get just one or the other at regular intervals, according to a draft recommendation published last week by a panel of prevention experts.
Both tests, which are performed on a sample of cells from a woman’s cervix, are effective at screening for cervical cancer. The Pap test, also known as a Pap smear, examines the cells for abnormal growth while the HPV test looks for strains of the human papillomavirus that cause the disease.
Since 2012, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, a nonpartisan group of medical experts, has recommended that women ages 30 to 65 either get a Pap test every three years or get both tests together every five years. In this new draft recommendation, they advise against the two-test option. Instead, the panel proposes that women either get a Pap test every three years (as before), or get an HPV test every five years.
The task force continues to recommend that women ages 21-29 get a Pap test every three years. It also says women younger than 21 and those older than 65 who have had adequate screening earlier and are not at risk for cervical cancer do not need the tests.
