ACS-ASCCP-ASCP CERVICAL CANCER SCREENING GUIDELINES 

POWERPOINT TO AID CLINICIANS IN DISCUSSING THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS AND THE NEW GUIDELINES 

The Cervical Cancer Screening and Prevention:  The Role of Molecular Testing Symposium was held November 17-19, 2011 at the NIH Neurosciences Building in Rockville, Maryland.  The goal of the symposium was to develop evidence-based recommendations for cervical cancer screening that consider if, and if so, how molecular testing should be incorporated into screening strategies.

• The Symposium was co-sponsored by the ASCCP, the American Cancer Society, and the American Society for Clinical Pathology
• Six Work Groups focused on specific Key Questions, reviewed the evidence and developed the draft documents that were presented on this website.  
• The AHRQ evidence reports developed in preparation for the USPSTF meeting on cervix held in March 2011 formed the basis for this project’s evidence assessment, with gaps in the data addressed by the individual Work Groups:
  • Screening for Cervical Cancer: A Decision Analysis for the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, prepared by the Duke and Minnesota Evidence-based Practice Centers 
  • Screening for Cervical Cancer: A Systematic Evidence Review for the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, prepared by the Oregon Evidence Based Practice
• The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) system for guidelines development was used.
• Directly following the meeting, the American Cancer Society (ACS) convened an ACS-appointed panel to vote on revisions to the ACS cervical cancer screening guidelines.

In March 2012 the American Cancer Society (ACS), the American Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology (ASCCP), and the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) released new guidelines for the prevention and early detection of cervical cancer. The guidelines generally advise a reduction in the number of tests women get over their lifetime to better ensure that they receive the benefits of testing while minimizing the harms, and include a preference for co-testing using the Pap test and HPV test for women age ages 30 to 65.

"While these new guidelines reflect relatively small changes over previous screening recommendations, they are important," said Alan Waxman, M.D., president of the American Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology. "The addition of HPV testing to the Pap test in women 30 and over has been shown in recent studies to provide better protection for longer intervals from cancer and pre-cancerous changes than the use of the Pap test alone."