Most Women Can Wait 3 to 5 Years in Between Pap Smears

Cervical cancer grows slow enough for tests to still catch it

Most women can wait three to five years between Pap smear tests depending on their age and test choice, say guidelines issued Monday. Many medical groups have long recommended a Pap test, which checks for cervical cancer, every three years but the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says that's true for women ages 21 to 29 whose Paps show no sign of trouble. For healthy women ages 30 to 65, the preferred check is a Pap plus a test for the cancer-causing HPV virus, and if both show everything's fine, they can wait five years for further screening. There is a growing consensus between the American Cancer Society and other medical groups that it's safe for the right women to wait longer between Paps. Cervical cancer grows so slowly that regular Pap smears, which examine cells scraped from the cervix, can find signs early enough to treat before a tumor even forms. (AP)

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