American Cancer Society recommends self-swab HPV test for cervical cancer screening

Cervical cancer screening can now include “self-swab” HPV tests, according to updated guidelines published Thursday by the American Cancer Society.

Cervical cancer screening can now include “self-swab” HPV tests, according to updated guidelines published Thursday by the American Cancer Society.

The change, experts hope, will encourage more women to undergo regular screening for the cancer by giving them an alternative to a speculum exam.

Testing for HPV, or human papillomavirus, has supplanted the Pap test as the preferred method for cervical cancer screening. Pap tests (also called cytology) involve collecting cells from a patient’s cervix during a pelvic exam, a process some women find uncomfortable and even painful.

“HPV is such a strong indicator of cervical cancer, we know now that screening for HPV is screening for cervical cancer. This gives more options to women,” said Jane Montealegre, an associate professor of behavioral science at the The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, who was not involved in the updated guidelines.

HPV testing has typically used a similar approach to a Pap test, using cells collected from the cervix. Since 2024, however, the Food and Drug Administration has approved three self-administered HPV tests, including one that can be done at home.