Cancer Research UK : Cervical cancer screening

Cervical cancer screening

Cervical cancer screening prevents cervical cancer.

Cervical screening is sometimes known as the 'smear test'. At screening the doctor or nurse takes a sample of cells from your cervix using a spatula or a small brush. They examine these cells under a microscope to look for any unusual changes.

Why early detection is important

The stage of cervical cancer at diagnosis strongly affects a woman’s chances of successful treatment.

If the cancer is detected at the earliest stage, over nine in ten women survive for five years past the point of diagnosis. But if it is detected at the most advanced stage, only one in four women do so.

Screening can prevent cervical cancer

Cervical screening helps doctors find early changes in the cervix before they develop into full-blown cancer. Treating these early changes is straightforward and effective, and can prevent cancer from developing at all.

History of the screening programme

Cervical screening was first available in England in the mid-1960s. However, there was concern that many women were not being tested, and that results were not being followed up correctly.

To solve these problems, the Department of Health set up the NHS Cervical Screening Programme in 1988. The programme introduced computerised invitation systems, set an age range for screening, and set certain quality standards.

Who can be screened?

Screening intervals and age ranges vary across the UK.

In England and Northern Ireland:

women aged 25–49 are invited for screening every 3 years
women aged 50–64 are invited for screening every 5 years
women aged 65 or over are only screened if they have not been screened since age 50, or have had recent abnormal results.

In Scotland, women aged 20–60 are invited for screening every 3 years.

In Wales, women aged 20–64 are invited for screening every 3 years.

In younger women, cervical cancer is rare, and the test is more likely to produce a false alarm.

Women above the age of 65 who have had consistently negative test results are very unlikely to develop cervical cancer.

Invitation letters are sent out based on GP records. It is important to be registered with a GP and to keep your contact details are up-to-date, so that you don’t miss out on your invitation to attend screening.

Does it work?

With the long history of cervical screening in the UK, we have good evidence to show that it is successful at saving lives.

In the 1950s, the death rates for cervical cancer began to fall by about 1% a year. But since 1988, when the NHS Cervical Screening Programme was set up, rates have decreased more rapidly by around 7% a year.

A Cancer Research UK study estimated that cervical screening has prevented an epidemic that would have killed about 6000 UK women every year.

Our current research

Professors Jack Cuzick, Peter Sasieni, Julian Peto, and Dr Anne Szarewski are studying HPV, the virus that causes most cervical cancers. They have found that we may be able to improve the current screening programme by also testing for HPV.

What about HPV?

There has been a lot of coverage in the media about the new human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines. There are many different types of HPV, some of which have been found to increase the risk of cervical cancer.

The new HPV vaccines are an exciting development and could prevent around 70% of cases of cervical cancer in the future. But we don't yet know whether the vaccines are effective in women who already have HPV, nor how long the immunity given by the vaccines lasts. So for the moment, going for cervical screening is still the best way of preventing cervical cancer.

Find out more

Our CancerStats section has lots of detailed information on cervical screening, while our patient information website CancerHelp UK has more information on what happens during and after the test and the latest on HPV vaccines.

You can find out more about cervical cancer and its signs and symptoms by ordering our cervical cancer leaflet.