The National Cancer Institute believes that a woman under 50 should make this decision together with her doctor. In light of these differing opinions, this seems the best course. Pap Smear . All the guidelines agree that women should start having Pap smears for cervical cancer when they become sexually active. Screening can stop at age 65, when the risk of cervical cancer drops, but only if previous smears have been consistently normal.
Experts disagree on the frequency of testing.
The US Task Force recommends that women have the Pap test every one to three years, and that the timing be determined by their doctors, depending on the presence of risk factors such as having multiple sexual partners. A 1980 consensus conference convened by the National Institutes of Health recommended that women have two consecutive annual tests and, if these are normal, continue having the test at intervals of one to three years. Prostate and Testicular Cancers With more than 317,000 new cases diagnosed each year, cancer of the prostate gland is by far the most common malignancy in men. About 41,000 men die of prostate cancer each year, making it second only to lung tumors in cancer mortality among males. However, it is likely that this apparent rise is due largely to improved methods of detection and increased screening rather than an actual increase in the incidence of the cancer itself.