Major Victory for Women’s Health in New Cervical Cancer Recommendations

Today, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) released new draft cervical cancer screening recommendations. Since USPSTF first announced its plans to revise its cervical cancer guidelines in 2022, ASCP has been actively advocating for USPSTF to uphold appropriate screening protocols in its new recommendations, and ASCP is pleased that the Task Force is putting patients first by maintaining access to critical preventive healthcare for women.

ASCP commends the USPSTF for maintaining “Grade A” designations for the following cervical cancer screening recommendations:

• Screen for cervical cancer every 3 years with a Pap test (cervical cytology) for women aged 21-29 years
• For women aged 30-65, the USPSTF recommends HPV Primary testing every 5 years, or getting a combined cytology-based Pap screening and high-risk HPV (hrHPV) test (co-testing) every 5 years, or Pap test alone every 3 years
• For women under age 21, the Task Force still recommends not to screen for cervical cancer

ASCP President, Greg Sossaman, MD, MASCP, lauded the draft recommendations, saying “it is so important that cervical cancer screening services are categorized as Grade A by the Task Force because access to and insurance coverage for this life-saving testing hinges on this designation. Securing this important victory for quality patient care was ASCP’s focus over the past several years.”

ASCP has long championed the patient’s right to choose the best healthcare options and preserve shared decision-making through our Patient and Provider Choice campaign. The recommendations track very closely with our advocacy efforts in the campaign, therefore we believe that the Task Force made the right decision in ensuring all cervical cancer screening options are available to all women.

Further, as a diverse, patient-centric organization, ASCP was concerned that raising the screening age to 25 and/or removing co-testing would exacerbate disparities in cervical cancer screening and detection in already underserved and vulnerable populations, who may not currently have hrHPV testing available to them. We are therefore encouraged that we are aligned with the Task Force and that our advocacy efforts paid off.

The draft recommendations are open for comment through January 13^th, 2025, and ASCP encourages our members to thank the Task Force for their work and due diligence on this important issue, and urge them to finalize the draft recommendations. We’ve made it easy to submit your comments through our action center.

ASCP will continue to monitor this important issue and keep members apprised of further updates. 

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