Prevention;
Screening
Colposcopy
CIN treatment

Screening
Screening involves a smear (Pap test). The frequency that Pap tests should be performed varies in different countries. In the UK, smear tests are performed three yearly from the ages of 25 to 50 and then five yearly until the age of 60. This varies if a woman has had an abnormal smear test.

In the UK, the recommended age for a woman to have her first smear increased from 20 to 25 in 2004. This is controversial and many doctors recommend that a woman continues to have smears from the age of  20. Virgins do not need a smear test.

Having a Pap test involves an instrument (called a speculum) to be placed into the vagina and a brush or spatula being used to take a sample of cells from the lining of the cervix. A smear test is not a diagnostic test but only about 50% accurate. However, with repeated tests at three yearly intervals about 93% of all cervical cancers can be prevented.

Other methods of screening exist and are being tested. This includes HPV testing. However, the accepted method of screening is with cervical smears.