Cervical Cancer Health Center

Cervical cancer mortality, usually occurring among unscreened women, increases with age, with the maximum mortality for white women between the ages of 45 and 70 years and for black women in the 70s.[1,2] (Also available online.) Mortality among women with negative Papanicolaou (Pap) screening is low at all ages.

Screening by Pap testing with associated diagnostic testing and treatment is effective in reducing the incidence of all histologies and stages of invasive cervical cancer.[3] The benefit increases with age. Whereas the odds ratio (OR) is 0.79 (95% CI, 0.57–1.1) among women screened at age 30 to 31 years for developing cancer at age 35 to 39 years, it improves to 0.26 (95% CI, 0.19–0.36) among women screened at age 52 to 54 years for developing cancer at age 55 to 59 years.

Women aged 20 to 24 years are those most likely to have Pap abnormalities leading to further testing and treatment (refer to the Evidence of Harm section of this summary for more information), so forgoing Pap testing in these women may improve the benefit-risk balance for this intervention.

High-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions are rare among women older than 65 years who have been previously screened. For women with a negative Pap test at age 60 years and older, the likelihood of having a new diagnosis of CIN 3+ on repeat screening is less than 1 in 1,000 (in some studies as few as 2 to 6 in 10,000).[4]

References:

1. Saslow D, Runowicz CD, Solomon D, et al.: American Cancer Society guideline for the early detection of cervical neoplasia and cancer. CA Cancer J Clin 52 (6): 342-62, 2002 Nov-Dec.
2. National Institutes of Health Consensus Development Conference Statement: cervical cancer, April 1-3, 1996. National Institutes of Health Consensus Development Panel. J Natl Cancer Inst Monogr (21): vii-xix, 1996.
3. Sasieni P, Castanon A, Cuzick J: Effectiveness of cervical screening with age: population based case-control study of prospectively recorded data. BMJ 339: b2968, 2009.
4. Sawaya GF, Grady D, Kerlikowske K, et al.: The positive predictive value of cervical smears in previously screened postmenopausal women: the Heart and Estrogen/progestin Replacement Study (HERS). Ann Intern Med 133 (12): 942-50, 2000.