Cervical Cancer Checklists

Risk factors

Risk Reduction

Early Detection

• Have you ever had sex?
• Have you ever been told that you had Human Papilloma Virus (HPV)?
• Have you ever been told that you had Chlamydia?
• Have you ever had genital warts?
• Do you smoke?
• Do you have human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection or AIDS?
• Did your mother take diethylstilbestrol (DES) when she was pregnant with you?
• Do you have a sister or mother who has or had cervical cancer?

1. If you are sexually active, you can reduce your risk of getting HPV and cervical cancer by:

• Having sex with only one other person who only has sex with you
• Practicing safer sex by using condoms each time you have sex

2. Quit smoking

3. Have regular Pap tests

Vaccination: The HPV vaccines are given in a 3-dose series to fight HPV infection. The vaccine must be given before the woman is infected. The HPV vaccines:

• Are best given between ages 11 and 13 (may be given as young as age 9)
• May be given between ages 13 and 18 to "catch up"
• Are of uncertain value for women aged 19-26
• Do not replace Pap smears (early detection) because they can’t fight all strains of HPV
• May require a "booster" shot later. Ask your doctor about this at your regular visits

• Yearly Pap tests should begin about 3 years after you first have sex, or by age 21, whichever is earlier. The newer liquid-based Pap test can be done every 2 years
• After age 30, if you have had 3 normal test results in a row, you may be tested every 2-3 years with Pap or liquid Pap tests, or every 3 years with an HPV DNA test plus a Pap.
• If you are 70 years old or older, and have had 3 or more normal Pap tests in a row with no abnormal Pap tests in the past 10 years, you may choose to stop Pap testing
• If you have had a total hysterectomy (uterus and cervix removed) and you are not at high risk (see below), you may choose to stop Pap testing, unless the surgery was for cancer

Women at high risk:

• Women with poor immune function due to organ transplant, chemotherapy, steroid use, or HIV infection need yearly Pap tests even after age 30
• Women whose mothers took DES during pregnancy need yearly Pap tests even after age 30