Clearing Up the Confusion on When to Get a Pap Test WEDNESDAY,
Jan. 2 (HealthDay News) -- Figuring out when to be screened for
this cancer or that can leave women's heads spinning. Screening
guidelines have been changing for an array of cancers, and
sometimes even the experts don't agree on what screenings need
to be done when. But for cervical cancer, there seems to be more
of a general consensus on which women need to be screened, and
at what ages those screenings should be done. The main cause of
cervical cancer is the human papillomavirus (HPV), according to
the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. HPV is very
prevalent, and most people will be infected with the virus at
some point in their lives, according to Dr. Mark Einstein, a
gynecologic oncologist at Montefiore Medical Center in New York
City. "But, it's only in very few people that HPV will go on to
cause cancer," Einstein explained. "That's what makes this type
of cancer very amenable to screening. Plus, it takes a long time
to develop