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Get breast and cervical cancer screenings.

Love yourself

Screenings

When you should be screened and how often:

When it comes to your health, you’re worth it. It’s important to have regular breast and cervical cancer screenings. They can detect cancer before you have any signs or symptoms. You matter. So love yourself. Protect yourself. A screening could save your life.

  • Women 18 and older

    Screening or Vaccine: Clinical Breast Exam (CBE) and Mammogram

    How Often: Annually

  • Women 40 and Older 1,2

    Screening or Vaccine: Clinical Breast Exam (CBE) and Mammogram

    How Often: Annually

Learn more

  • Women 21 and Older 1,2

    Screening or Vaccine: Pelvic Exam

    How Often: Annually

  • Women 21 to 29

    Screening or Vaccine: Pap Test

    How Often: Every 3 years

  • Women 30 to 65

    Screening or Vaccine: Pap Test

    How Often: Every 3 years or every 5 years with HPV co-testing

Learn more

Per Screening for Life guidelines dated July 2021.

1 Talk with your health care provider about individual screening recommendations.

2 Individuals with a family history of cancer may qualify for screening at an earlier age.

Talk to your health care provider today. Don’t have one?

A nurse navigator can help

Getting a screening is easy.

A mammogram is a breast cancer screening. It’s fast and easy. You stand in front of a special X-ray machine, and your breasts are scanned one at a time. You may feel a little uncomfortable for a few seconds, but the machine gives your health care provider a look at breast tissue that can’t be felt during an exam. It’s safe — only a very small dose of radiation is used for the screening. After the screening, your health care provider will notify you of your results.

A Pap test is a simple procedure. It looks for cell changes on your cervix by collecting a few cells that will be examined by a lab. It’s painless and easy. The screening can be done during a routine office visit, and your health care provider will let you know how to obtain your results.

We offer help for screenings and cancer treatment.

If you don’t have insurance or can’t afford a breast or cervical cancer screening, there is a program that could provide the screening for you. Learn about it now.

If you should be diagnosed with breast or cervical cancer and are unable to afford treatment, the Delaware Cancer Treatment Program provides free cancer treatment for up to two years. Cancer Care Coordinators help guide you through treatment by scheduling visits with health care providers and making sure you get the care you need.

Causes

What causes breast cancer?

Women at a higher risk for breast cancer:

  • Use alcohol and eat a high-fat diet
  • Are obese or overweight
  • Have never had children
  • Smoke and are exposed to secondhand smoke
  • Have used birth control within the past 10 years
  • Are older (two-thirds of breast cancer diagnoses occur in women 55 and older)
  • Have a family or personal history of breast cancer
  • Have gene defects or mutations
  • Are Caucasian and 45 years of age and older
  • Have dense breast tissue

What causes cervical cancer?

Women at a higher risk:

  • Have an infection from HPV (two-thirds of all cervical cancers are caused by HPV 16 and 18)
  • Are obese or overweight
  • Smoke (cigarette smoking doubles the risk)
  • Eat a diet low in fruits and vegetables
  • Have an HIV or a chlamydia infection
  • Have had an organ transplant
  • Have been exposed to the drug known as DES — a synthetic form of estrogen
  • Have used oral contraceptives long-term (five or more years)
  • Have had three or more full-term pregnancies (having a full-term pregnancy before the age of 17 doubles the risk compared with a woman whose first pregnancy was at age 25 or later)

Myth vs Fact

Breast

Mamograms are painful and take forever.

At most, you may feel a little uncomfortable for a few seconds; some women have no discomfort at all. Start to finish, most appointments take about 30 minutes.

No one in my family has breast cancer, so I won’t get it.

Most women who get breast cancer do not have a history of breast cancer in their family.

Women my age don’t get breast cancer.

It’s important to stick to the screening guidelines and talk to your health care provider — no matter what your age — about what screenings you should have and when.

I’m a survivor. I don’t need breast cancer screenings — I’m no longer at risk.

Sometimes, getting mammograms can be even more important for people who have had other forms of cancer, because they may be more at risk.

Cervical

Doctors can’t prevent cervical cancer, so why bother getting screened?

Cervical cancer can be prevented if the virus that causes it is detected early enough. Pap tests allow the virus to be found and treated before it becomes cancer.

Pap tests are painful and take forever.

Like mammograms, a Pap test may cause, at most, a little discomfort for a split second. The test can be done during a routine office visit.

I don’t have any symptoms, so I’m fine.

In early stages, cervical cancer does not cause symptoms that a woman can notice. Symptoms usually appear as the cancer grows.

I have only one sexual partner, so I don’t have to worry about cervical cancer.

Even if she has sex just one time, a woman could be exposed to the virus that causes cervical cancer. The chance of getting it increases if a woman has multiple sexual partners.

Nurse Navigators

Delaware nurse navigators can help you get screened for cancer.

Whether you have insurance or not, Delaware nurse navigators can help you get screened for cancer and provide follow-up help when you get your results. Choose from the list below to call a nurse navigator directly, between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., or click the call request button to have a nurse navigator contact you.

A Nurse Navigator on the phone supporting a patient
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