For patients with cervical cancer, standard treatment may include surgery, radiation, or chemotherapy. Before a treatment regimen can become standard, it must go through a clinical trial. Clinical trials test if a potential treatment is safe and effective in humans. Clinical trials go through a series of phases, starting with a smaller group of patients and expanding to a much larger group. The video below explains the three main phases of a clinical trial.
Most cancer-related clinical trials involve possible new treatments, including vaccines, surgical approaches, and immunotherapy (using the patient’s own immune system to fight the cancer).
For some patients, a clinical trial may be the best treatment option, but any patient should carefully measure the risks and benefits involved. It’s important to understand what a clinical trial is, what your rights are as a patient, and what the risks and benefits are before making a decision. The National Institutes of Health, lists the following benefits and risks of trial participation:
Benefits:
Risks:
Before entering a clinical trial, a patient will go through the process of informed consent where they are informed of the risks and benefits specific to that trial, as well as complete details of all the tests, treatments, and procedures involved. The patient will also learn about their rights, including the right to withdraw at any time.
Clinical trials are not limited to new cervical cancer treatment options—researchers are also looking at cervical cancer prevention, diagnosis, palliative care (support and symptom management), as well as psychosocial issues related to cancer. ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the National Institutes of Health, offers an extensive list of clinical trials as well as detailed information on the trial, including criteria for patients to qualify.
ClinicalTrials.gov also offers information on trials that have been completed, along with results from those trials.
At the end of 2025, the American Cancer Society released its new cervical cancer screening guidelines. In January 2026, the Health Resources and Services Administration endorsed a new set of guidelines as well. Both suggest HPV screening with self collected samples is an acceptable option.
Research suggests that only one dose of the HPV vaccine may be effective enough to prevent HPV-related disease, including cancer.
Australia has been a leader in HPV-prevention and cervical cancer screening for decades. Because of this, it is now close to eliminating cervical cancer entirely. However, recent drops in vaccination and screening rates threaten this progress.
The American Cancer Society (ACS) released new recommendations for cervical cancer screening that focus on HPV testing and approve the use of self-collected samples. The recommendations also clarify the age at which screening should start and stop.
The FDA just approved the Teal Wand, a self-collection device for HPV testing that does not require a speculum exam or even a trip to the doctor’s office. People can collect their own sample at home and send it to a lab for analysis.
The results of large-scale study of HPV suggest that one shot of the vaccine may be enough to protect young people from HPV and related issues like cervical cancer.
There are over 100 different types of human papillomavirus, or HPV. Some types of HPV can cause genital warts and other types can cause cancer, including cancer of the cervix, vulva, vagina, penis or anus, as well as cancer in the back of the throat.
The pandemic interrupted our regularly scheduled doctor’s visits and pushed off preventative care like Pap tests.
ASHA believes that all people have the right to the information and services that will help them to have optimum sexual health. We envision a time when stigma is no longer associated with sexual health and our nation is united in its belief that sexuality is a normal, healthy, and positive aspect of human life.
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