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The American Cancer Society (ACS) is making two changes to cervical cancer screening. First, people can now choose to collect their own vaginal samples for primary HPV testing, though samples collected by a clinician are still preferred. Second, the ACS provides new guidance on when it is safe to stop screening for cervical cancer. These updates are published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.

The changes aim to make screening easier and more convenient, helping more people get tested and reducing the risk of developing or dying from cervical cancer.

This update builds on the 2020 ACS Cervical Cancer Screening Guideline for people with a cervix who have an average risk of cervical cancer. Screening has already helped lower cervical cancer cases and deaths in the U.S. over the past decades. Recommendations evolve as researchers learn more about the disease, high-risk HPV infections, and new screening technologies. In 2024 and 2025, the FDA approved self-collection of vaginal samples for HPV testing, marking an important advance in cervical cancer screening.

More information can be found on the ACS website.