The human papillomavirus, or HPV, is responsible for the great majority of occurrences of cervical cancer. It’s easier than ever to detect.
Private. Cozy. Practical. Until recently, cervical cancer screening was always done in a doctor’s office and typically entailed placing our feet in stirrups as part of a pelvic exam. Most women definitely wouldn’t identify these words with cervical cancer screening.
However, there is now another choice. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released cervical cancer screening guidelines in January 2026, which for the first time allow women to do an at-home high-risk HPV (hrHPV) test. It searches for HPV strains, which account for around 95% of cervical cancer cases.
Experts anticipate that more women will seek screening and more lives will be saved as a result of the new option. The American Cancer Society estimates that 13,490 new cases of invasive cervical cancer will be identified in American women in 2026, and an additional 4,200 women will pass away from the illness.
For women over 30 who have an average risk of developing cervical cancer, the at-home hrHPV test is an alternative. Women should continue to be screened in the office if they have a recent history of an abnormal Pap smear, a positive HPV test, symptoms such vaginal bleeding or abnormal discharge, or previous treatment for a gynecologic issue.
“Giving many women the ability to obtain this test at home can potentially increase screening rates. It’s already being done successfully in other countries,” says Dr. Tien Ly, an OB/GYN at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital.
Shifting focus
The self-swab test, which was made available at physician offices in 2024, is a component of the evolving cervical cancer screening model in the US.
The Pap test was the mainstay of screening for many years. During a pelvic exam, a doctor uses a long swab to scrape cells from the cervix in order to do a Pap smear. To check for anomalies, the cell sample is transported to a lab.
The same sample has also been used in recent years to test for HPV; this dual analysis is known as a co-test. However, researchers have shown that HPV testing alone—which is easier to do by only swabbing the vaginal walls—is more accurate at predicting the development of cervical cancer in the future.
More than 70% of instances of cervical cancer are caused by two of the more than 200 strains of HPV. 14 high-risk strains are identified by high-risk HPV testing. “Testing for the high-risk group is better than doing a Pap smear alone,” Dr. Ly states, “and doing high-risk HPV testing first is just as effective as co-testing.”
Home testing process
An at-home HPV test involves a woman parting her labia, inserting a pen-sized plastic swab, rubbing it along her vaginal walls, and then removing it. The swab is then promptly put in a vial and sent to a lab for analysis. Within a week, the results ought to be accessible.
According to research, there is no difference in accuracy between physician-led and self-collection. This is probably because collecting HPV-infected cells is so simple. “HPV is found on the cervix, in the vagina, and on the vulva,” she says. “It’s everywhere.”
Women who test positive for HPV will be guided by their clinicians on follow-up steps, which could include a Pap test or a colposcopy procedure that uses a specialized microscope to examine the cervix and vagina for abnormal cells. Women who test negative for HPV won’t have to repeat the test for three years.
Considering self-testing?
Dr. Ly believes more women will seek cervical cancer screening if they can literally take the process into their own hands. A recent analysis casts some doubt on the notion while still providing glimmers of hope.
According to a March 2026 study published in Obstetrics and Gynecology, involving nearly 4,500 women ages 21 to 49, only 43% said they would prefer self-testing, while 28.5% would rather their clinician perform testing. However, 28% said they had no preference, meaning that a total of 71% are at least open to the idea of self-testing, Dr. Ly says.
Notably, about 18% of respondents either had never been screened for cervical cancer or hadn’t undergone adequate screening, and 54% of these women indicated they would prefer self-collection. “I think that’s the most significant number to focus on, because those are the patients we want to reach,” she says.
However, the self-test doesn’t negate the need for women to see their gynecologist and undergo periodic pelvic exams, which also check for other conditions, Dr. Ly notes.
Who can stop cervical cancer screening at 65?
According to cervical cancer screening guidelines, women should begin screening at age 21 and can discontinue at age 65 if certain requirements are satisfied. A lady must have had either of the following in the previous ten years:
three Pap tests that came back negative
two negative co-tests (Pap and HPV), or
two high-risk HPV tests that came back negative; the most recent tests were conducted between the ages of 60 and 65.
Additionally, according to Dr. Tien Ly, an OB/GYN at Massachusetts General Hospital, they must never have been diagnosed with significant dysplasia (abnormalities) of the cervical cells.
A woman 65 or older is deemed to have a low risk of cervical cancer once she has fulfilled those requirements. However, regardless of the findings of previous tests, any older woman experiencing vaginal bleeding should be checked. “Then she’s no longer considered at average risk,” Dr. Ly says.
