Deferring sexual activity until older than 18 years of age, practicing monogamy, and safer sex behaviors all reduce the potential for cervical cancer. A routine pelvic examination, including a Pap smear should be performed yearly beginning at the onset of sexual activity, or by the age of 20 in non-sexually active women. Pap smears detect abnormalities in the cells of the cervix , thus alerting the physician that further tests may need to be done.
Early detection allows treatment to begin before cancer has actually developed.
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