Cervical Cancer Screening Got You Confused?

Here’s a great local article from the Grillo Health Center in Boulder that might provide some of the answers to questions you’ve been having about recent changes in cervical cancer screening. You may be concerned because the new guidelines say you only need a pap smear every three years, instead of every year as was previously practiced. This change reflects improvements in our knowledge about this disease and the newer HPV test. It takes ten to fifteen years for the cancerous cells to develop after initial infection, and a consistent picture of your cervical health can be obtained with pap smears taken only every three years with the newer HPV screening technologies. Read the entire article here: Changes in cervical cancer screening