A major update to federal women\u2019s health preventive guidance will make it easier for women to get screened for cervical cancer, including a self-collection option that allows some women to test themselves at home instead of going to a doctor for a pelvic exam.<\/p>\n
The new option will be covered by private insurance beginning in January 2027.<\/p>\n
The updated Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) guidance now advises that people receive a high-risk HPV test \u2013 which checks for the virus types most likely to cause cervical cancer \u2013 every five years for average-risk women ages 30 to 65\u00a0as the preferred screening approach. This can be done with a clinician-collected sample or by the patient at home.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"Nurse\/doctor](\"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/138744e7-c532-4ddd-8e9e-92087680b757\/pap-smear-gty-cw-20260104_1767560971126_hpMain.jpg?w=375 "\\"cancers\\"")
<\/picture><\/div>\n<\/div>Practice Nurse\/doctor doing smear test<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Peter Dazeley\/Getty Images<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Women in that age group still have other choices: a combination of an HPV and Pap test every five years, or Pap testing alone every three years if HPV testing isn\u2019t available.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe addition of self-collection really empowers women to make this choice for themselves,\u201d Ann Sheehy, MD, the HRSA\u2019s chief medical officer, told ABC News. \u201cWe do retain the option for Pap smear \u2026 this is just an additional choice for women.\u201d<\/p>\n For women ages 21 to 29, the recommendations stay the same: Pap tests every three years, which Sheehy said aligns with available evidence.<\/p>\n \u201cBy doing this, we\u2019re going to get some of those people that have been falling through the cracks and not getting this testing done in advance,\u201d Tom Engels, administrator of the HRSA, told ABC News. \u201cAnd by doing that, we\u2019re going to save lives.\u201d<\/p>\n Engels emphasized that the update is meant to expand testing options, not replace the Pap test. Self-collection is intended to remove barriers for women who find in-office screening difficult to schedule, uncomfortable, or hard to access, he stressed.\u00a0<\/p>\n American Cancer Society (ACS) guidelines<\/a> updated in December, by contrast, recommend that cervical cancer screening should begin at age 25 and centers on primary HPV testing, including self-collection tests.<\/p>\n “The combination of good evidence of the benefits of self-collection, which include increased access to cervical cancer screening, combined with FDA approval, led the ACS and HRSA to include self-collection in their guideline update,” Dr. Robert Smith,\u00a0senior vice president, Early Cancer Detection Science at the American Cancer Society and author of the organization’s updated guidelines, told ABC News.<\/p>\n Cervical cancer screening is often cited as a major public health success.\u00a0Over the last 50 years, cervical cancer incidence and deaths have fallen by more than 50% in the U.S., according to the American Cancer Society, largely because screening can catch precancerous changes early, before patients notice any symptoms.<\/p>\n UNITED STATES – MARCH 09: Bottles of Merck & Co.’s cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil are arranged for a photo at a pharmacy in New York, U.S., on Monday, March 9, 2009. Merck & Co.’s $41.1 billion purchase of Schering-Plough Corp. adds experimental drugs for blood clots, infections and schizophrenia and allows the companies to speed research on biotechnology drugs. (Photo by Jb Reed\/Bloomberg via Getty Images)<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Bloomberg via Getty Images<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n When cervical cancer is found early, five-year survival is higher than 90%, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data suggests<\/a>. But the HSRA guidance notes that more than half of diagnoses happen beyond the earliest stage, after the disease is spread to other areas of the body. In those later stages,\u00a0five-year survival is only about 20%, according to the CDC.<\/p>\n Wide use of the HPV vaccine is expected to push cervical cancer rates even lower over time, but most of the historical decline happened before widespread vaccination efforts.<\/p>\n Sheehy said she has seen the consequences when screening doesn’t happen, and why early detection matters.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve seen women who didn\u2019t have access to screening, and their cancer presented at a very late stage,\u201d she said. \u201cMost women who have early-stage cervical cancer or precancer lesions are asymptomatic, and the only way we\u2019re going to detect that is with screening.\u201d<\/p>\n The updated guidance aims to address stubborn gaps despite the decades of progress, she added, pointing out that about half of women diagnosed with cervical cancer have either never been screened or their screening isn’t up to date, and about one in four women in the U.S. are not up to date with screening, according to the CDC.<\/p>\n Cervical cancer cells.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Science Photo Library – Cnri\/spl\/Getty Images<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n![\"Bottles](\"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/6993ea67-7321-43e7-899a-c75d048582e0\/hpv-vaccine-gty-cw-20260104_1767561503732_hpEmbed_3x2.jpg?w=375)
<\/picture><\/div>\n<\/div>![\"insurance](\"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/109d7293-db2b-4610-b77b-181c8fc966a5\/cervical-cancer-gty-cw-20260104_1767561680853_hpEmbed_20x13.jpg?w=375 "\\"insurance")
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