At What Age Can We Stop Screening for Cervical Cancer?

By Amy Orciari Herman

Edited by André Sofair, MD, MPH, and William E. Chavey, MD, MS

Women with negative human papillomavirus (HPV) test results at age 55 are at very low risk for cervical cancer, according to a study in Lancet Oncology. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force currently recommends that women be screened for cervical cancer through age 65.

Canadian researchers created a model to estimate cervical cancer risk at different ages and depending on which screening tests women undergo. Among the findings for unvaccinated women:

• Women who are never screened have a 1 in 45 chance of developing cervical cancer in their lifetime.

• Women with typical adherence to cytology screening until age 55 lower this risk to 1 in 138; with screening until age 70, the risk drops further to 1 in 160.

• A woman with typical screening up to age 55 who then has a negative cytology test has a 1 in 440 chance of subsequently developing cancer. This drops to 1 in 1940 with a negative HPV test, and 1 in 2253 with negative HPV-cytology cotesting.