As per recommendation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), women between 21 and 65 years of age should get themselves regularly screened for cervical cancer. However, a new study has suggested that older women are at much higher risk of suffering from the disease and that is the reason they need to undergo regular cervical cancer screening. According to experts, cervical cancer rates in the US are higher particularly in older women between 65 to 69 years old.

The researchers reached at the conclusion after analyzing data from the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Also, they looked into the finding of a household survey conducted by the CDC to figure out the incidence of cervical
cancer in the US from 2000 to 2009.

The researchers excluded women who underwent hysterectomy, a procedure that involves the removal of the uterus and sometimes of other surrounding organs like the ovaries and fallopian tubes. These women have very low chance of developing cervical cancer and that is why the researchers excluded them from the study.

The researchers found that rates of cervical cancer among women who have not undergone hysterectomy was the journal Cancer and the incidences only increased with the increase in age, especially between 65 to 69 years.

The findings of the study have been published in the journal Cancer. "Our corrected calculations show that women just past 65, when current guidelines state that screenings can stop for many women, have the highest rate of cervical cancer", said study author Anne Rositch, from the University Of Maryland School Of Medicine.

According to the researchers, older African-American women are most likely to suffer from cervical cancer as the actual incidence rate was 53 cases per 100,000, compared to previous incorrect estimate of 23.5 cases per 100,000. Regular screening is the best measure to prevent cervical cancer. Pap smear is one of the screening methods used to look for pre-cancer and cancer in the cervix. HPV test, on the other hand, looks for the presence of the human papillomavirus.