Question for DR Frank regarding Smear tests/Cervical Cancer?

Hi, i'm 25, i've never had sex. (before anyone tells me to get a life, me and my fiance are waiting till we are married).

Do I need to have smear tests, or wait till I am sexually active?. I'm a 2 year med school student and I have always been taught that Cervical cancer is mainly caused by the Human Papilloma virus. I know there is a big debate going on at the moment regarding the goverments ruling that women under 25 are not offered the test, and I know this is a great cause for concern giving the fact our age of consent in the UK is 16 and a lot of teenagers are sexually active before that. Please advise..

My dad was a GP and he said, Cervical Cancer occuring in virgins is unheard of, but my dad is retired and kinda out of touch with things!

HPV is the main cause of cervical cancer, with that said; it's not IMPOSSIBLE for a virgin to get cervical cancer, it is very very VERY rare, but I would still have the test.

The fact smear tests are only offered to those aged 25+ is crazy, like you said given the fact the age of consent is 16 in the UK! I feel it's a way for the NHS to save money, you could be one of the rare unlucky ones; in Australia they test automatically when you are 18, in the US I think it's 20 or when you become sexually active, we need to adopt that here. The crazy thing is, it's not saving the NHS money, by failing to detect pre cancerous cells and risking the patient developing full blown cancer costs the NHS MORE to treat then smear tests.

Thank god a vaccination is in the pipe line, although the so called do-gooders trying to prevent it on the basis it's sexualizing young girls!! Take my advise, to er on the side of caution go get the test, none of your symptoms are specific to cervical cancer, don't worry to much. I would always advise anyone to take an diagnostic tests that are available..

I am 19 and recently went to the gyno for the first time. She told me that you should have a gyno appointment (including the pap smear that comes along with it) when you become sexually active OR at the age of 18...whichever comes first.

So yes, you should get a pap smear and see the gyno. This way, at least, they have a base test for when you do become sexually active.

In the UK at the minute the advice is that until you are sexually active, you do not need to have a smear test, and as you have learned at med school the highest risk factor for cervical cancer is HPV, which is only spread through sex.