Can cervical screening prevent cancer?

To help you make a decision about whether or not to go for screening, the main benefits and difficulties of cervical screening are explained below:

Benefits

• Cervical screening reduces the risk of developing cervical cancer.
• Because of cervical screening, cervical cancer is now an uncommon illness in the UK.
• The number of women who develop cervical cancer has halved since the 1980s due to most women regularly having cervical screening.
• NHS cervical screening saves about 4500 lives a year in England.

Difficulties

• Cervical screening can show minor changes that may go back to normal on their own, but knowing they are there can make you worry.
• Sometimes, too few cells are taken or the cells cannot be seen properly and the test will need to be done again.
• Regular cervical screening can prevent about seven or eight out of every 10 cervical cancers from developing but it does not prevent every case.
• Cervical screening does not pick up every abnormality of the cervix.

• Some women find having the test an unpleasant experience.

Cervical screening, like other screening tests, is not perfect. It may not always detect early cell changes that can lead to cancer. Abnormal cervical cells on your slide may not be recognised because:

• Sometimes they do not look very different from normal cells.
• There may be very few abnormal cells on the slide.
• The person looking at and assessing the slide may miss the abnormality. This happens occasionally, no matter how experienced the person is.

Occasionally a test will have to be taken again because:

• The cervical cells on your slide may have been hidden by blood or mucus.
• There may not have been enough cervical cells on your sample to give an accurate assessment.
• Your sample may not have been properly prepared.
• Your slide or container may have been broken.
• You may have an infection that needs to be treated before a clear sample can be taken.

As screening is not completely effective in detecting changes to the cervix, you should see your GP if you have any unusual symptoms, such as bleeding after sex or between periods.

The laboratory that looks at your sample will keep it for at least 10 years. Your latest result can then be compared with the ones you have had before. This is to make sure you get the treatment you may need. All screening records, including your samples, can be looked at again (reviewed). If a review is needed, the staff working in the screening service will need to look at your screening records.

On the rare occasion that a review shows that you should have been cared for differently, you will be contacted. For more details about NHS record keeping you can contact NHS Direct| on 0845 46 47 or NHS 24 on 08454 242 424.