Cervical Screening
Cervical screening is testing done on people who are at risk of getting cervical cancer, but who have no symptoms and generally feel fine. The cervix is a body part that connects the uterus (womb) to the vagina (genital opening). Cervical cancer is cancer in the cervix. Regular cervical screening can help you avoid getting cervical cancer.
Cervical cancer deaths happen more often in parts of the world where cervical screening is not available. The dramatic decrease from 1980 to 2014 in the rate of new cervical cancer cases and deaths from cervical cancer is almost entirely due to cervical screening.
Cervical cancer is almost always caused by human papillomavirus (HPV).
Facts about HPV
- HPV is a family of viruses. There are more than 100 types of HPV and they can cause changes to the cells of the cervix. With some types of HPV, these cell changes can turn into cervical cancer over time if they are not treated.
- People can get HPV from having sexual contact of any kind with another person. Sexual contact includes when someone has contact with another person’s genitals (private parts). This contact can be with the hands, mouth or genitals.
- HPV is common and 8 out of 10 people will get HPV at least once in their lifetime. HPV will often go away on its own without doing any harm.
- Someone can have HPV for many years and not know it unless they get the cervical screening test.
- The cervical screening test checks for types of HPV that can sometimes cause cervical cancer. It also checks for cell changes in the cervix caused by these types of HPV. The test does not check for types of HPV that do not cause cancer.