Dec 4 (Reuters) - Women at average risk for cervical

cancer can avoid unpleasant tests in doctors' offices and

instead safely test themselves at home for the virus that causes

nearly all cases of the disease, the American Cancer Society

said on Thursday.

The first at-home screening test for the human

papillomavirus (HPV), made by Teal Health and approved in May by

the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, uses a vaginal swab,

avoiding the traditional speculum-based exam done in the clinic.

Women send the swabs to a certified lab for testing.

At least partly because speculum exams can be uncomfortable

or even painful, "half of the women in the U.S. who have

cervical cancer did not undergo a screening test in the past ten

years," Dr. Diane Harper of the University of Michigan, who has

studied the effectiveness of the vaginal swabs, said earlier

this year.

The new guidelines, published in CA - A Cancer Journal for

Clinicians, will help improve compliance with screening and

reduce the risk of cervical cancer, co-author Dr. Robert Smith,

senior vice president of the ACS, said in a statement.

Speculum exams are preferred, but self-collected vaginal

specimens are acceptable, the updated recommendations say.

When self-collected specimens are HPV-negative, repeat

screening in three years is recommended, while negative speculum

tests should be repeated every five years, the ACS says.

The ACS advises average-risk patients to initiate cervical

cancer screening at age 25 and undergo testing for high-risk HPV

strains - so-called primary HPV testing - every five years

through age 65. At that point, screening can stop, as long as

the last few tests have been negative.

While cervical cancer screening programs have decreased the

incidence of the disease by more than half since the mid-1970s,

more than 13,000 cases will be diagnosed in the U.S. this year

and more than 4,000 people will die from the disease, the ACS

says.

A vaginal swab test by Roche for use by patients in

doctors' offices was approved in May 2024.

The guideline authors note that HPV vaccination, such as

with Merck's ( MRK ) Gardasil, before age 17 is linked with a

90% reduction in the risk of cervical cancer.