Smear tests could be cut to three in a lifetime

WOMEN may soon be spared the ordeal of having to go so often for smear tests.

A study published today suggests they may only need screening seven times in total thanks to new more sensitive tests being rolled out across the NHS.

And women who have received the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine at school might one day only need to have three tests in their lifetime.

Under current guidelines, women are invited for cervical cancer screening 12 times between the ages of 25 and 64. The frequency of the tests is thought to be contributing to falling uptake and a third of women neglect to take part in the screening programme.

A study by Queen Mary University of London and Cancer Research UK, published in the International Journal of Cancer, suggests tests could safely be held less frequently because of a new way of testing for HPV – the virus which causes 95 per cent of cases of cancer. The new procedure tests first for the HPV virus rather than looking for abnormalities in the cells of the cervix.

Dr Julie Sharp, of Cancer Research UK, added: ‘This is great news for women.’ Public Health England confirmed it was reviewing the frequency of screening and would take into account the new findings.