USPSTF proposes guidelines for cervical cancer screening

On Dec. 10, 2024, the United States Preventative Services Task Force published a draft recommendation with guidelines for cervical cancer screening. The recommendation document is open for public comments until Jan. 13, 2025.

Currently, the USPSTF guidelines for cervical cancer screening, which were published in 2018, recommend a cervical cancer screening using cervical cytology every three years for women between 21 and 29 years old.

For women between 30 and 65, the current screening recommendations differ slightly. Women in this age bracket are advised to get cervical cytology every three years, high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) testing every five years, or they can get cotested with both methods every five years.

However, the updated draft recommendations place a greater focus on HPV testing. For example, although women between 21 and 29 are still advised to get cervical cytology every three years, the recommendation suggests that individuals between 30 and 65 can forgo cervical cytology in favor of clinician- or patient-collected HPV screenings.

For individuals between 30 and 65 who want to get cervical cytology, the USPSTF advises screening every three years or every five years if combined with high-risk HPV testing.

According to the updated recommendation, cervical cancer screening implementation has had a significant role in the prevention of cervical cancer-related deaths. In the draft recommendation, the USPSTF mentions that most deaths from cervical cancer occur in women who have not had the appropriate screening, diagnosis or treatment.

Although many Americans do not understand the link between HPV and cancer, data suggests that 3% of all cancers diagnosed in women can be traced to an HPV infection. HPV is one of the leading causes of cervical cancer.

With that understanding, researchers and healthcare professionals acknowledge that HPV screening and prevention tools can be critical in understanding cervical cancer risk and preventing the disease or disease progression.

The USPSTF maintains that increasing HPV vaccination rates and screening for HPV appropriately can play a vital role in reducing cervical cancer incidence and mortality nationwide.

Beyond the benefits of standard HPV testing, the emergence of new HPV testing protocols that allow for the self-collection of samples will be vital in eliminating screening barriers.

In May 2024, the FDA approved Roche's self-collected HPV tests, making it the first HPV self-collection test approved in the U.S. Just like provider-collected samples, the patient-collected sample is then sent to a lab for analysis.

According to a study from the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, at-home HPV tests could be critical for addressing cervical cancer screening gaps, offering an accessible tool for a broad range of demographic groups.

Although these recommendations have not been finalized, if they are confirmed, healthcare professionals might shift to self-collection methods.

Veronica Salib has covered news related to the pharmaceutical and life sciences industry since 2022.