10 Feb Screening Guidelines for Sexually Active Females

Cervical cancer, which is cancer of the cervix, is one cancer that can be avoided if you take the right precautions and the HPV vaccine in time. Whether you believe you are at risk or not, it is recommended that you do a screening as a preventive measure.

However, if women are sexually active, cervical cancer screening is strongly recommended. We discuss the details below.

What is cervical cancer screening?

These are a few tests that can identify precancerous cervical cell changes as well as cancerous cells, if they so occur.

Screening guidelines for sexually active females

These are the three primary ways that are used to screen for cervical cancer:

• A Pap smear, also called a Pap test, should be done every 3 years for women who are sexually active. In this test, cells are taken from the cervix and tested for abnormalities. It is not painful.
• HPV-DNA detection test is recommended for women every 5 years. This is a laboratory test in which cells are taken from the cervix and tested for the DNA of human papillomaviruses (HPV). This is seen as a more effective method for detecting Cervical Cancer, though it is costlier than a pap smear. The World Health Organization (WHO) states that the “DNA-based testing for human papillomavirus (HPV) has been shown to be more effective than today’s commonly used screening methods aimed at detecting and preventing cervical cancer”.
• If the above two cannot be done, it is recommended that an Acetic Acid Test is done every year for women who are sexually active. This is a basic and inexpensive, visual-inspection test. A small percentage of acetic acid is applied on the uterine cervix to determine if there are any precancerous or cancerous lesions. However, pap tests and HPV DNA tests provide more accurate results.

Therefore, Cervical Cancer is preventable and also treatable if detected early. Talk to your physician about getting tested and also getting vaccinated, if you are in the recommended age group