Cervical cancer screening saves lives — no one disputes that.
But University of New Mexico researchers have found that many women are screened too often, leading to unnecessary procedures that may carry their own harms, while some women are not getting tested often enough, putting them at higher risk for poor outcomes.
The team led by Cosette Wheeler, PhD, Regent’s Professor in the UNM Department of Pathology and director of the Center for HPV Protection at the UNM Comprehensive Cancer Center, looked at compliance with updated national guidelines for cervical cancer screening issued in 2012.
