The Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved the first at-home test to screen for cervical cancer, Teal Health, which makes the test kit, said.
Currently, cervical cancer screening is done in a doctor’s office during a pelvic exam, a process some women find uncomfortable and even painful.
Some patients don’t get screened for cervical cancer because they don’t want a pelvic exam, said Dr. Emeline Aviki, a gynecologic-oncologist at NYU Langone Health.
“It’s not a fun exam and it’s the easiest thing to cancel,” said Aviki, who worked on some of the early studies to validate the new test.
Cervical cancer is considered highly preventable, thanks to screenings and the HPV vaccine. Rates of the disease have plummeted since the 1970s, according to a 2025 report from the American Cancer Society, though they have begun to level off in recent years. The report estimated that this year, 13,360 women will be diagnosed with cervical cancer and about 4,320 women will die.
However, the number of women getting screened has fallen since the mid-2000s. A 2022 study found that 23% of women were behind on their cervical cancer screening in 2019, up from 14% in 2005. Up to half of women diagnosed with cervical cancer in the U.S. weren’t up to date on their screenings, the American Cancer Society says.
“Cervical cancer screening in general is something that saves lives,” said Dr. Jessica Kiley, chief of general obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago.
The new test, called the Teal Wand, detects HPV using a vaginal swab, making it less invasive than a pap smear, in which the gynecologist inserts a speculum and collects samples of cells from the cervix.
HPV, or human papillomavirus, is a sexually transmitted infection and the leading cause of cervical cancer. There’s no treatment for HPV, but most cases clear on their own. Several strains, however, are linked to cervical cancer.
The Teal Wand is not the first HPV test that uses a vaginal sample: Last year, the FDA approved a similar swab, also performed by patients themselves, that’s collected in a doctor’s office.
“What’s different about this new indication is that this sample can be collected at home and not in a medical setting,” said Dr. George Sawaya, a gynecologist at UCSF Health. “You have to logically believe that would increase access if people’s main barrier was getting to a medical setting.”
A recent report in JAMA Network Open found that women in rural areas are 25% more likely to be diagnosed with cervical cancer and 42% more likely to die from the disease than women who live in cities, a trend that likely reflects lower access to screenings and care in rural parts of the country.
Patients will be able to order the test kit after a telehealth appointment with a doctor and then collect the sample themselves at home. For now, the product will have to be prescribed by one of Teal Health’s virtual providers, but the company plans to make it available for other doctors to order as well. The swab is then mailed to a lab for analysis.
Teal Health said if the result is positive, its providers will help arrange for further care. Following a positive test, women may need additional tests in a doctor’s office.
Still, experts want more information on the cost of the test, and whether patients will follow up if they need more testing.
“Those are some of the uncertainties around it,” Sawaya said.
Kara Egan, the CEO of Teal Health, did not say how much the test would cost.
However, she said, because cervical cancer screening is endorsed by a government group called the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, the company is anticipating the test will be covered by insurance and expects to know definitively in the coming months. In December, the task force endorsed in-office self-swabs in a draft recommendation.
Kiley, the gynecologist from Northwestern, said it’s still important that women see a gynecologist regularly. An annual exam covers more than just cervical cancer screening, she said.
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