CEimpact Podcast

Pharmacy’s Role in HPV Self‑Screening

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Federal guidelines now recognize self‑collected HPV testing as an option for cervical cancer screening for average‑risk individuals, offering a more accessible and patient‑preferred alternative to clinician‑collected samples. This course explains current guideline updates supporting self‑collection, highlights screening intervals and follow‑up recommendations, and explores how pharmacists can support patients in choosing appropriate screening options and navigating coverage and reimbursement. You will learn practical strategies to educate patients, help them understand test options and results, and integrate HPV self‑screening into preventive health services in your practice.

HOST
Rachel Maynard, PharmD
GameChangers Podcast Host and Clinical Editor, CEimpact
Lead Editor, Pyrls

GUEST
Sarah Westberg, PharmD, FCCP, BCPS

Professor & Associate Dean for Professional Affairs

University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy



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 CPE INFORMATION
Learning Objectives
Upon successful completion of this knowledge-based activity, participants should be able to:
1. Describe recent guideline updates supporting self‑collected HPV testing as part of cervical cancer screening.

2. Identify pharmacist‑led strategies to counsel patients on self‑screening options, appropriate follow‑up steps, and considerations related to insurance coverage and reimbursement.

Rachel Maynard and Sarah Westberg have no relevant financial relationships to disclose.

0.05 CEU/0.5 Hr
UAN: 0107-0000-26-075-H01-P
Initial release date: 4/20/2026
Expiration date: 4/20/2027

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Welcome And CE Credit

SPEAKER_00

Here on Game Changers, we're all about helping you stay ahead of pharmacy practice. But why stop at listening? You can earn CE credit for this episode and hundreds more by visiting CEIimpact.com and logging into your account or creating a new one. Get credit, get inspired, and make your learning count. Hey CE Impact subscribers! Welcome to the Game Changers Clinical Update Podcast. I'm your host, Rachel Maynard, and today we're discussing a potentially practice-changing topic related to cervical cancer screening. About one in four women in the U.S. aren't up to date with cervical cancer screening, but early screening helps detect precancerous changes and cancer early before symptoms occur and when it's more treatable than advanced cancer. The preferred screening test is a human papillomavirus or HPV test, which looks for high-risk types of the virus that can cause cervical cancer. And traditionally that's required a pelvic exam with a clinician collecting a sample from the cervix. But now there are self-collection options approved by the FDA to test for HPV, which can be done in a healthcare setting or at home. And updated guidelines now include the self-collection option for some women at average risk for a potentially more comfortable and accessible alternative to that traditional testing. So to help us get up to speed on this topic, that may have a big impact for many of our patients. Our guest speaker today is Dr. Sarah Westburg. So welcome, Sarah. Very excited to have you today.

SPEAKER_01

Thanks for thanks so much for having me. I'm happy to be here and talking about this important topic.

SPEAKER_00

Excellent. Well, Sarah, would you mind just introducing yourself to our listeners? So letting them know a little bit about your background, where you are now, and why you're interested in this topic?

SPEAKER_01

Yes. So I'm a professor at the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy, where I also serve as Associate Dean for Professional Affairs. And I spent over 20 years in patient care, providing comprehensive medication management services, and 13 years in a women's health clinic where I work with primary care as well as OBGYNs and nurse practitioners and certified nurse midwives caring for women across the lifespan on for women's health care needs. So women's health is important to me. And I'm really excited to see these changes in the guidelines that are gonna hopefully increase the number of women getting appropriately screened.

Why Screening Saves Lives

SPEAKER_00

Absolutely. Yeah, there's that gap between screening and then also that connection between screening and improving outcomes and survival. So definitely something that we can be helping to support and being aware of these changes is, I think, really important. So your experience and expertise really aligns, I think, with where we're going to be talking. So super excited to have you. Thank you again for taking the time. Yes, thanks for having me. So let's just start out this discussion because you know, I sort of gave a high-level overview of cervical cancer screening in general and what it involves, but let's get a little bit more in detail about what cervical cancer screening is, why it's important, and maybe some key information or statistics that we'd be thinking about when we were talking with patients to help help them understand the importance of this.

SPEAKER_01

Yes. So, and you gave some really important highlights there that I'd like to just dive into a little bit deeper. So, yeah, about 25% of women are estimated to not be up to date with cervical cancer screening. And when it's detected early, at the early cancer or pre-cancer phase, the survival rate is great. Five-year survival rate rate is higher than 90%. But once that cancer has metastasized, the five-year survival rate drops to 20%. And early disease is asymptomatic. So women aren't going to know that there's a cancer growing unless they get the screening done. And just to highlight the impact of screening, so the the previous screening with the PAP test was really launched in the 1950s, is when it really took off. And prior to that test, cervical cancer was one of the leading causes of cancer-related death in women. So we've made huge strides, drops. I saw one place a 50% drop in cervical cancer, incidence of mortality, another place said a 70% drop since we started screening. So we are continuing to evolve and getting better and better at that screening. But we still have more work to do if we have 25% of the population not getting the screening they need.

Pap Versus HPV Testing

SPEAKER_00

That's great perspective. Yeah. Yeah. And so even though, as you said, we've made strides, still one in four women not being screened up to date is a huge gap. And so let's get a little more granular about what the screening is itself. So you mentioned the PAP, and I alluded to that as well in the intro. But what screening options are available and what exactly is screening looking for?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, so let's start with the PAP. That's what women often think about, although we've been doing HPV screening for years now. The PAP test is it's the classic pelvic exam. It's the insertion of the speculum where the clinician can see the cervix and collect cells from the cervix. And that's looking at the actual cells to see for look for abnormal changes that could be precancerous. And if there is something there, they're diagnosing something called cervical intraepithelial neoplasia or CIN. But what we've learned through research as the science evolves is that the primary cause of cervical cancer comes from the human papillomavirus. So if we test for the presence of the virus, that actually has better sensitivity to recognize the presence of cancer than the PAP test. The sensitivity of the screen is better with the HPV test. And well, if a clinician does the collection, they're probably going to pull the cells from the cervix. And there are many years where we did co-testing. So they'd pull the cells from the cervix or that sample and they'd test, they'd look at the cells and test for HPV. But if you're only testing for HPV, which is the where the guidelines have gone now, you don't need this cervical sample because that virus is present in the vaginal wall as well. That's what allows for self-collection because it'd be difficult to self-collect from the cervix. Right. It's not difficult to self-collect from the vaginal wall. So that's the key part of this evolution.

SPEAKER_00

Interesting. Okay, so you highlighted a few things that I did not know, and I I suspect many of us didn't know. But the fact that, first of all, that term PAP is not looking for HPV. So even though we now know that HPV is some certain types of HPV, high-risk HPV, is commonly associated with cervical cancer. PAP is not looking for that. That's looking for abnormal or precancerous cells, whereas this HPV test specifically is looking for the virus. And historically, typically, for if it's not, if we're not talking about self-collection, HPV testing is still done in the way you described with the speculum and getting a cervical sample as well, or is HPV gen is is it only PAP that's done that way? Uh help me understand that.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, it only has to be PAP done that way. So previous guidelines recommended co-testing. So doing a PAP with an HPV test. Okay. Okay. If only an HPV is done, no, they wouldn't have to get it from the cervix, whether it was a clinician or self-collect. So thanks for giving me the opportunity to clarify that.

Self-Collection Step By Step

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, interesting. And so that, as you said, is where this self-collection is now coming from because patients can use a device that allows them to capture tissue from the vagina rather than the cervix specifically. That's the key differentiator. Yes. Okay. Okay, excellent. Let's actually just walk through that process a little bit more because the guidelines will get into more of what the guidelines say, but in terms of that self-collection, there are two options: this self-collection in a healthcare setting and self-collection even at home now. And what does that process actually look like, either of those processes right now for patients? How do they actually get the test, whether it's in the office or at home? And a little more maybe detail about how that actually works.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. The test is designed to insert like a tampon. So it'd be a plastic device with a sponge on the end with a dial on the one end. So the and it's yeah, about the diameter of a tampon. So it can be inserted into the vagina, and then the dial can be pushed up to expose the sponge, spin the sponge with the dial to collect that sample, then removed back back into or pulled back into that plastic device, removed, and then the sponge can be sent to the lab, whether that's um, you know, if you're using the at home, it's going to come with appropriate mailing, similar to like a home colorectal screening process. You get all the packaging, you put it in the mail. And in the clinic, you know, you'd be doing that in a private setting after being trained, either in the clinic room or in the bathroom. And then your clinician would help package and make sure the test went off to the lab.

SPEAKER_00

Got it. Okay. Great comparison. And and good to make the a couple analogies you made there, that it's similar, similar to a tampon, and about you know, same general size, or at least the way it's inserted would be similar. But also that analogy to colorectal cancer screening, I think it's fantastic because I think many patients, I think there's much more awareness now of these home stool tests that patients can do, send the results back. And that's a very sort of similar comparison here, where patients are getting their own sample from in the mail, mailing the results back, and getting the results that way.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, it really makes it easy and keeps it private. And, you know, I think one of the reasons I think we could all agree that some of the barriers for cervical cancer screening is the exam. Um nobody looks forward to that, right? Like, and especially for women who've maybe had a history of any sort of sexual assault, those exams can be really traumatic and triggering. And it's understandable that women would want to avoid that experience in some situations. So having another option helps not only with access and transportation and a lot of the healthcare barriers we think about, but also just the fact that this is a more invasive screening test that is often uncomfortable for women. So to have another option is huge.

HRSA Updates And Coverage Rules

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, absolutely. And as you said, there's all kinds of reasons why the screening rates are maybe lower than we want. And as you said, privacy, discomfort with the exam, access to care for whatever reason that might be. There's all these issues that sort of come into play there. And this does help overcome some of those barriers. So it really is an exciting option, I think. So let's actually transition with that into the guidelines and what the new guideline recommendations say. And there are actually two sets of guidelines. So one is from the Health Resources and Services Administration or HRSA, one is from the American Cancer Society, and both came out with the within the last year with new updates around this self-collection option. So can you give us an overview of what those updates now include and where the self-collection fits in?

SPEAKER_01

Yes. So let's start with the HERSA guidelines. And one exciting piece about the HERSA guidelines is that when preventative care items are placed in the HRSA guidelines, it results in an insurance mandate. So starting January 1st of 2027, all plants have to pay for testing in the way described here. So with the HRSA guidelines, they recommend starting screening with primary HPV testing. And it could be clinician collected or self-collected starting at age 30. But if we look at that younger group, that 21 to 29, HERSA is still recommending the cervical cytology, the PAPSMAR. And the reason for that is that HPV is a virus that when many individuals will contract, but often clear on their own. And if they clear it on their own, it's not going to be associated with cancer in the future. So if you are only testing HPV in the 20s, you may have more positives that are low risk. So that's why HRSA recommends the PAP test in the 20s. So HERSA says PAP test in the 20s, starting at age 30, you do the primary HPV test with self-collect or clinician collected. And then their recommendations go through age 65. So it's ages 21 to 65. And the interval, so with the primary HPV test, it only has to be done every five years. And they say every five years, well whether it's self-collect or clinician collected. So hers is really straightforward. In the 20s, it's a PAP test every three years, ages 30 to 65, it's HPV testing, clinician or self-collect, follow-up every five years, stop at age 65. Those are for women for average risk. So let's make sure we circle back to talk about what the average risk is descent, is defined as.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Actually, let's let's just clarify that right now. Who who are the average or who would not be at average risk? Who would be ruled out? Right.

SPEAKER_01

Those who would be ruled out is individuals who have any sort of immunodeficiency. So HIV, people of autoimmune diseases who are on biologics, which is a lot of women. We know that our autoimmune diseases are more common in women. So if they're on a biologic that suppresses the immune system, we need to put them in a different category. Um also women who've had any sort of history of the CIN, that early those early precancer cells, they go into a different pathway for screening until they have so many normal exams and then they might be able to come back to normal screening. But those are the those are the key areas, immunodeficiency or a history of abnormal testing.

SPEAKER_00

Okay. Okay, great. And so this is you you recap this the HERSA guidelines so well. That 20 to 30, 20 to 29 age range, the PAP, and every three years, 30 to 65 HPB testing every five years, which could be self-collected or clinician collected. And what's key here is that this is the first time that these guidelines have offered the self-collected as an option, right? Yes, absolutely. Okay, okay, so that's a great summary. Now, and the other point you highlighted is because the the reason that these guidelines are so important is because they tie in with that insurance coverage, right? So if it's now an option in these guidelines, insurances will have to cover. Is that still a state-specific thing or insurance-specific thing? Or how how does what does that look like?

SPEAKER_01

Because the HERSA guidelines are federal, it's not a state thing. It's a plants have to cover it. And actually, it's considered preventative care, so they have to cover it at no cost to the patient.

SPEAKER_00

Amazing.

SPEAKER_01

And one of the other exciting parts of that is that also in these HERSA guidelines, the follow-up is covered. So if an HPV test is positive, then there's going to need to be follow-up. And then the cervical sample does need to be taken. And then, you know, there could be coposcopies or biopsies or like other follow-up, and that also then falls under this bucket of preventative care that would be covered at no cost. So it really will help ensure women get all the way through the process of training and diagnosis.

SPEAKER_00

Amazing. Excellent. Okay, great summary there. Now let's turn to those American Cancer Society guidelines as well and where those fit in in terms of how they compare to the hearse guidelines and how that might affect what clinicians are recommending.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, so they're different for the women in their 20s. That's a key difference. So the American Cancer Society says that we should start screening at age 25, and we can start right with the primary HPV test. Um and for ages 30 to 65, they do state in the American Cancer Society guidelines that clinician collection is preferred, but self-collection is acceptable. So their language is intentional there. And the primary HPV test is every five years if clinician collected. The American Cancer Society says self-collected HPV testing should be repeated every three years. And their publication talks a lot about the why and and really alludes to the fact that it'll probably change, but they just feel like there's a little gap in the literature right now to ensure that the five-year is as effective as a three-year for self-collect. So I expect that hopefully that research will come out and the American Cancer Society will also feel comfortable with the five years, but that's also a difference with the interval being every three years for self-collect under the American Cancer Society.

SPEAKER_00

Okay. So yeah, that's a key difference every three years if self-collected. And also, as you said, the difference between the rehearsal guidelines essentially has whether clinician or patient self-collected on equal footing, whereas ACS is a little bit preferential to the clinician collected versus patient collected. Although both are options slightly, as you said, that preferred wording versus acceptable wording is sort of the nuance there. Yes. Okay. Okay. Great distinction. Go ahead.

SPEAKER_01

And the other thing that American Cancer Society Guidelines do well, I think, is a nice description for the exit age of screening, which is really important because it's it's roughly a quarter of cervical cancer diagnoses occur over the age of 65. So we want to make sure we're appropriately screening our older women. And we also know that women over the age of 60 are actually have lower rates, keeping up with their cervical cancer screenings. And so the exit age for average risk women from the American Cancer Society says that women can exit at age 65 as long as they've had negative HPV testing at age 60 and 65, or at least two negative tests kind of after the age of 60. They say 60 and 65, but we all know maybe people got one at 61. So maybe you would wait till they were 66, right? And then if they were doing PAP and not HPV, it would be three negative PAP tests because those are done every three years. So really ensuring that you have good screening, ages 60 to 65, if that's all negative, if you follow the guidelines there, then you can exit at age 65.

SPEAKER_00

Okay, excellent. So some distinctions between the guidelines, and I appreciate they called out that one of the reasons those self-collection and clinician collected aren't necessarily on equal footing in the ACS guidelines, is uh we they were recently within the last two years approved. And so we are still sort of getting that data and real world evidence. But also doesn't it have something to do with the fact that Clinician Collected allows you to, if you have some concern about the sample, immediately do some follow-on testing so that follow-up separately wouldn't be necessary, or I I was seeing something about how if that sample is abnormal, they can then do some additional testing right with the same sample versus needing to do a second follow-up sample if it was self-collected.

SPEAKER_01

Yes, it depends on what the clinician collects. So if they're just collecting like a vaginal wall sample, they'd probably still have to do the follow-up cervical sample. But they they were doing the co-testing with the PAPSMAR and the HPV, then they would have gotten those cervical cells and could run that follow-up testing. Right.

SPEAKER_00

Okay. Okay. So that's another consideration. And you mentioned before how if a patient does have an abnormal result with a self-collected test, they will need to have those follow-up steps and additional, you know, they they're still gonna need that that cervical exam, that public exam.

SPEAKER_01

Yes.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, okay. Yes.

SPEAKER_01

So there may be women who hear this and say, Right, maximes don't bother me a bit. I'd rather just get it done and not have to worry about the chance of going back. But you know, a it's for many women, I think they'd they'd prefer to avoid it if they if they don't need it.

SPEAKER_00

If they can, yeah, as one one first pass at least. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Exactly. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00

And in terms of accuracy, is there any difference that you're aware of in accuracy between outside of sort of waiting for additional long-term data? Any initial concerns that we need to be aware of for accuracy considerations?

SPEAKER_01

The research is really strong. And so there's a nice research study that evaluated self-collect compared to clinician collect. Um, and they were basically equal in terms of sensitivity. And the sensitivity of the HPV testing is around 96%. And so that means that if you have a negative test, there's a 96% chance that that's accurate, that we haven't missed a positive test. So importantly, in the research has shown that the results are very comparable. Self-collect's not inferior to the clinician connect collecting.

Accuracy And Who Is Average Risk

SPEAKER_00

That's a great point that I think patients might have concern about, and it's very reassuring to hear that. So that's great. So I think we've got a good handle on what the new options are, where the guidelines fit in, the frequency of testing. Let's talk about how this is going to impact pharmacy practice. What do you think are sort of the main takeaways that pharmacists need to be aware of and how can they? Be to me, one thing that stands out is awareness. So making patients aware of this is an option, especially if you're talking and you have you hear any hesitation around public exams, but would love to know your thoughts on how you think this will impact practice.

SPEAKER_01

I think pharmacists are in a great place to really help educate women. Um, pharmacists around the country are getting more and more involved with hormonal contraception as those state authority for prescribing is expanding across the country. I know many community pharmacists and practices will do some focused care around menopause. And so as we think about women across, you know, age 21 to 65, there's a lot. I mean, that's a lot of women, right? We don't just thinking about our younger women of reproductive age. We've got to include those women up to the age of 65. So it could be a comprehensive medication management visit with a patient with type 2 diabetes who's a 62-year-old woman. Let's just think about your preventative health screening. And maybe we've have incorporated thinking about mammograms and colorectal screening. We should be thinking about cervical cancer screening too. And I think that because it's not been something that pharmacists could play a direct role in in the past, maybe it hasn't been on our radar screen as much to like make that part of our preventative care education. And I think we can really start pulling that in, help educate patients to ask their clinician about self-collect. Um, and we really think over the next couple of years, there's going to be likely a broadening market of FDA-approved at-home testing that is more widely available, that maybe pharmacists can be the ones ordering and dispensing that product directly.

What Pharmacists Can Do Now

SPEAKER_00

I first of all, I love that you highlighted thinking about this as one of the preventive care strategies that you're thinking about in that holistic view of the patient in any comprehensive medication management concept, right? In any sort of these discussions, we're always thinking about immunizations, we're thinking about preventive screening, we're thinking about have they had their checks, you know, along the way in the course of their life. And so absolutely adding this to that discussion is even more relevant now that patients can have that home option or self-collected option in a clinician's office. So I just think that's a really important point to highlight there. And then I was going to ask you to look into your crystal ball and tell us if you think that more of these home options will be coming. So right now there's I think a couple self-collection options that can be done in a healthcare setting. And then we have one home option that, as you mentioned, is mailed to the patient's home and the patient sends it back. But do you think that more will be coming? And even beyond that, do you think that pharmacies could be the healthcare setting that patients are are even doing the cell collection in if it's um not at home?

SPEAKER_01

Yes, I think it very well could be. And so a couple things that come to mind. One, I I do want to make sure we say, because I don't think we said it yet, that these guidelines only referred to FDA approved testing. Um as I was prepping for today's podcast, there are some tests on the market that are not FDA approved that you could buy. So it's important to also educate our patients to stick with the FDA approved products. Right, good point. So likely, yeah. So the at-home option now is available through through the company's telehealth program. So somewhat limited currently, but I expect that may change after these new insurance mandates go into effect in 2027, and there are likely to be more on the market. So as more at-home tests become available as pharmacists' ability to prescribe tests, it continues to expand across states. This could likely be one of the tests that pharmacists can be prescribing. So it could be prescribing, dispensing, educating, all at the pharmacy. And we shouldn't rule out the self-collect in the healthcare setting options either. One of my women's health nurse practitioner friends was relating this to the self-collect vaginal swabs that they do for sexually transmitted diseases. Um, and I think some pharmacies are doing more in STI screening. Um, and that can be a urine test, although the vaginal swab is better. But the um it's the same idea. You know, you can educate the patient on how to do it, give them the private space they need, could be a bathroom, could be a private exam room, um, and then have that collection and have your system set up so you can send it to the appropriate lab. But absolutely, as pharmacies are becoming more, more and more primary care clinics, I think it fits in really well.

SPEAKER_00

I love how you you made that comparison to the STI screening too. And as you said, there's more and more testing options becoming available in pharmacies in general. And this is certainly something that could be considered in the future as something that's part of that pharmacy portfolio. I just think that's a really exciting idea.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, it is. It is exciting. It's all about access for patients and meeting patients where they are and what's going to work for them to get the health care they need. Um, and some patients will prefer to go to their OBG Ryan that they love and trust, and others don't have that person in their healthcare team and have a relationship with their pharmacist. So it's just great to give patients options.

SPEAKER_00

And I also love that you called out the fact that more pharmacists are being involved in hormonal contraception and menopause care, sort of that women's health throughout the lifespan. And that also just ties in with the opportunity that we have here, I think, to um bring in the importance of cervical cancer screening into those discussions as well. It just makes perfect sense. I do want to ask about again, this is very forward-looking since you know we're still on the early stages of this, but any insight into what pharmacists may be able to bill for, get reimbursed for? Would this follow other similar types of processes or any any thoughts on that?

SPEAKER_01

I think it's in some ways difficult to know. And in other ways, it'll likely be very similar to other types of tests, right? Where you can typically bill for the test. And in states where pharmacists have the ability to prescribe and administer tests, that this is gonna fall into those kinds of buckets, I think, in terms of testing. So a little bit more to, you know, we need more experience for sure to be seen, but I still feel like it's very much in the self-collection, is very much in the the wheelhouse of something that pharmacists can do and are doing other types of testing. So I think the specifics we'll learn over time, but I I think as we're billing for other types of tests and the education associated with that, I expect this can be in that same kind of bucket.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. And the key point there is really that the HRSA guidelines are allow for that insurance coverage of this as a preventive option. So that's that's a key point to be aware of, and we'll definitely tie into that evolution as we see how how coverage might progress. Okay.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. And I think as pharmacists get into this space, it'll be important for pharmacists to have clinicians they work closely with. So they have readily available networks for patients who do have who do test positive for HPV. It'll be critical that they then get in for care, either with primary care or OBGYN. So as setting up this practice, that would be an important part of pharmacists' due diligence to plan for what's your referral network. So you make sure every patient gets followed all the way through the process they need for screening and diagnosis.

Vaccination As Cancer Prevention

SPEAKER_00

You read my mind in terms of it's not just, you know, one and done, give the patient the test, they're set. It's it's follow-up, making sure, regardless of whether if the results are abnormal, as you say, having that path to referral, but also if they're normal, reinforcing the importance of ongoing screening. This is not a one and done. This is something that needs to be done on an every three or five year schedule, depending on what you're following. And yeah, just making sure they're setting reminders or we're following up with them in the given time frame to remind them about the need for that ongoing screening. Yes, absolutely. Excellent. Well, we've covered a lot of ground, and this is just such an interesting topic, and I'm super excited to see how it sort of all pans out in practice. But, you know, one other thing we didn't touch on yet, but I think might come up in some of these conversations is prevention, because we're talking about HPV testing. And so, in terms of vaccination, you know, I think it ties into what pharmacists are already doing around HPV vaccination and just a reminder about prevention there, you know, even before thinking about screening in the future. So maybe you could just touch on that and the role of pharmacists with vaccination too.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, absolutely. That's that's a great call out about the importance of HPV vaccination. And we know that you know, cancer rates are falling with the uh launch of HPV vaccines, but the screening is still recommended as we discussed. Um and the more we can, it's really across that whole lifespan, right? You know, and we've talked about starting at 21 in terms of cervical cancer screening or 25, depending on what you're following. But thinking of our adolescent population too, and making sure they're vaccinated as scheduled, both males and females for HPV prevention, it's really a cancer-preventing vaccine. Um, and when you frame it that way, this vaccine prevents cancer. It can really be a powerful education point for people to choose to get that vaccine and parents to choose that it's it's a good choice for their kids.

The Big Practice-Changing Takeaway

SPEAKER_00

Great, great summary there. And I think back to what the point you made in the beginning about how we've seen these declines in cervical cancer because of the PAP originally in the 1950s, and you know, how that's going hopefully going to continue to progress, but also with vaccination, hopefully that's going to contribute on the other end too. And we'll still just see this reduction in cervical cancer rates altogether with both the prevention aspects and the screening and identifying it early. Yeah, absolutely. All right. So this is our game changers clinical update podcast. So, Sarah, what is the game changer you'd like our listeners to walk away with about this topic? I think there's a lot of game changers actually in my mind, but I'd love to hear what your sort of key takeaway is for our listeners.

SPEAKER_01

I think the big game changer is that with these new guidelines, allowing for self-collect as an option is that more women can get appropriately screened, um, including our older post-menopausal women who sometimes like, yeah, get a little laps on their screening as they get older, right? Or and so I think it's a it's just a great opportunity. The bottom line is more women getting the screening because there's less trepidation for the screening and less fear with that self-collect option and the opportunity for pharmacists to really embed this into their preventative, comprehensive care for patients.

CE Reminder And Sign-Off

SPEAKER_00

Absolutely. Great summary. Very exciting stuff, and just looking forward to see how this all plays out in practice. Thank you so much for your expertise on this, Sarah. This is great. Thanks for having me, Rachel. Excellent. So, listeners, be sure to claim your CE credit for this episode of Game Changers by logging in at CEimpact.com. And as always, have a great week and keep learning. I can't wait to dig into another game changing topic with you all next week.