Cervical screening: how often should women be screened?

Abstract

Introduction As a result of major improvements that have been made to cervical screening during the last 15 years, and implementation of call and recall to invite all women aged 20–64 for screening, the incidence of cervical carcinoma has fallen by 42% since 19901. Cervical cancer is now a rare disease, largely thanks to the widespread uptake of screening by the women at risk. Despite the manifest success of the NHS Cervical Screening Programme (NHSCSP), there is pressure on one hand to improve its sensitivity by the introduction of new technology, including human papillomavirus (HPV) testing2, and on the other hand to reduce the cost of the programme, which is more than £130m per year. The main method suggested to reduce costs is the restriction of routine screening to an interval of 5 years3–5.