HPV testing preferred over Pap for cervical cancer screening starting at age 30, task force’s draft recommendation says

Testing for high-risk human papillomaviruses every five years – even with a self-collected sample – is the “preferred screening strategy” for cervical cancer starting at age 30, according to a new draft recommendation from the US Preventive Services Task Force.

Testing for high-risk human papillomaviruses every five years – even with a self-collected sample – is the “preferred screening strategy” for cervical cancer starting at age 30, according to a new draft recommendation from the US Preventive Services Task Force. Traditionally, many women have been screened for cervical cancer with cervical cytology – also known as Pap tests or Pap smears – in which cells from the cervix are collected and checked for signs of cancer. But the draft USPSTF recommendation, released Tuesday, emphasizes testing for high-risk human papillomaviruses, or HPV, as a primary screening approach for women ages 30 to 65, as most cervical cancers are caused by the virus. The HPV test involves collecting a vaginal sample and checking cells for infection with the high-risk types of HPV that can cause cervical cancer. “We are highlighting that HPV screening, as the primary screening for women ages 30 to 65, is the best balance between the benefits and the harms in finding cervical cancer, and that should be offered first and when available,” said task force member Dr. Esa Davis, professor and senior associate dean for population health and community medicine at the University of Maryland in Baltimore. And for the first time, the draft recommendation statement includes the option for women to self-collect their own vaginal samples for HPV testing. “Now we have an additional screening test that may be more appealing to those who otherwise would not come in for screening, and that’s with self-collection,” Davis said.