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Legs harnessed in an airborne straddle. Feeble pleas from your ob-gyn to scooch up. Cold, clunky metal speculum pushed into your vagina, followed by clanging and scraping. Pap smears are, at worst, a painful, crampy, or traumatizing experience; and at best, awkward as hell. It’s only natural to wish you never had to go through with another one again. And thanks to a company called Teal Health, that desire may soon be granted: Its at-home, self-collect cervical cancer screening device was approved by the FDA on May 9.
It involves running the same test for human papillomavirus (HPV)—which causes nearly all cases of cervical cancer—that doctors have used for years, but with a sample you take yourself by swiping the wall of your vagina with a small tampon-like device.
Teal’s development is the natural next step on a path of advancements in cervical cancer screening. While the Pap was invented in the 1940s and involves inspecting cervical cells for precancerous or cancerous shifts, in the early 2000s, doctors realized they could also scan those samples for nefarious strains of HPV itself. In 2014, the FDA approved the first primary HPV test—for use in place of a Pap, in some people—but the cells still had to get plucked from your cervix by a doctor via a pelvic exam, so the experience stayed the same. However, recent game-changing research determined that cells swiped from the vagina instead of way up in the cervix work just fine for an HPV test; that made it possible to use samples people could self-collect. Teal is now the first to bring this tech to our homes, with tests expected to launch in California shortly and nationwide later this year.
It’s poised to solve a few pain points, some literal, with the current testing paradigm that have led nearly 30% of folks to fall behind on regular screenings. Yes, there’s the dreaded speculum and all the fear, discomfort, and shame it can bring, but there’s also the difficulty of securing and attending appointments amid a provider shortage, Kara Egan, cofounder and CEO of Teal Health, points out. All of these challenges disproportionately affect Black and Hispanic folks and those of low socioeconomic status, which experts say contributes to thousands of preventable deaths from cervical cancer every year in the US. Read on to learn how Teal Health’s at-home test may help close the screening gap for cervical cancer and make the whole shebang more doable and comfortable for some people.
Can the Teal Health at-home cervical cancer screening replace a Pap smear for everyone?Technically, what Teal replicates is an in-office HPV test—but because a large body of research has found that HPV testing is generally more effective at preventing cervical cancer than Pap smears, the screening recommendations for most people already emphasize the former. Indeed, the American Cancer Society shifted its guidelines in 2020 to specifically recommend everyone with a cervix between the ages of 25 and 65 get screened with an HPV test every five years, and only if one isn’t readily available, with a combo HPV/Pap test every five years or a Pap every three. And in December 2024, the United States Preventive Services Taskforce (USPSTF) released a draft of new guidelines that also primarily recommend an HPV test every five years (with the same other two options noted as “alternatives”) but for a slightly different age group: 30 to 65.
The thing is, HPV testing has classically been done via a speculum exam, so the shift away from Paps and toward HPV tests hasn’t meant much in practice…yet. But with an option like Teal on the table, many could potentially skip the in-office speculum screening altogether. The latest draft guidelines from the USPSTF even go so far as to recommend self-collected HPV tests, pointing to their equivalent efficacy to clinician-collected ones and ability to make screening easier.
Teal used the ACS guidelines in its testing, so it’ll be available for people ages 25 to 65. What does that mean if you’re in your early 20s? The ACS actually suggests no testing under age 25; people in this demo commonly get HPV and clear the infection on their own, so the risk of developing cervical cancer at this age is low, and detecting the virus wouldn’t offer much actionable intel. Meaning, your doctor might not suggest any screening until age 25. The USPSTF, however, recommends people ages 21 to 29 get a Pap smear every three years to look for evidence of cell changes (which might be a better indicator of precancer or cancer than merely having the virus at this age). So there’s a chance your doctor may still suggest you get a routine Pap starting at 21; and then at 25, you could technically switch to this at-home HPV test, so it’s something to discuss with your provider if you’re interested.
Folks who are at higher-than-average risk for cervical cancer—for instance, those who are immunocompromised or have a history of treatment for precancerous spots—also shouldn’t bypass a Pap or in-office HPV test for Teal. (And people in this camp also generally need to screen more often than the suggestions above indicate.) You can think of Teal as comparable to Cologuard, an at-home screening test for colon cancer, Egan says: “Anyone who falls in the typical or average testing flow can use it.”
But just because you might be able to handle cervical cancer screening from home doesn’t mean you should fully stop seeing your ob-gyn—after all, the Pap smear or HPV test is just one part of gynecological care. A pelvic exam (involving, yes, a visual look at your cervix by way of a speculum, as well as pressing on your pelvis externally) can also help detect vaginal, vulvar, uterine, ovarian, and fallopian tube cancers, Christie Cobb, MD, a board-certified ob-gyn in Little Rock, Arkansas, who is not affiliated with Teal Health, points out. So while Teal’s at-home test may replace your in-office cervical cancer screening, it’s not a one-for-one substitute for routine preventive care visits, she says.
How does the Teal Health at-home cervical cancer screening work?Getting screened with Teal involves using a self-collection device and connecting with either a nurse practitioner or ob-gyn via the brand’s telehealth platform. You’ll head to the Teal site, request to get started, and then will get synced with a provider who will prescribe the wand, explain how it works, and order the lab test, Egan explains.
The device itself works a lot like a tampon applicator: You insert it into your vagina, push the back portion forward to extend a soft sponge, and turn the base to rotate the sponge 10 times to collect your sample. Then, you remove the device and send the sponge in an included mailer to a lab. There, it’ll be tested for 14 different strains of HPV that are most often associated with cancer, just like how a sample collected by your doctor would be.
Plenty of evidence has demonstrated that self-collection works just as well as clinician-collection for HPV testing; the FDA already approved self-sample tests for use in a health care setting in 2024, and they’ve been adopted in other countries like Sweden, the Netherlands, Australia, and Denmark too. (Research also shows, unsurprisingly, that people often prefer the DIY route over the speculum ordeal.) Teal’s FDA approval makes it the first self-collect HPV test in the US proven to work with a sample you take at home.
If your Teal test comes back positive for HPV, that doesn’t mean you have cancer; just like a positive result on a typical in-office HPV test or an abnormal Pap, it just means you may be at greater risk and need in-person followup care (like additional testing and potentially a procedure to remove funky cells). Once your results come back, you’ll have a Telehealth visit with a Teal provider, during which they will explain what they mean and either refer you back to your ob-gyn or to one based on your location, insurance, and doctor availability. This part is key, given that an estimated one in eight cases of cervical cancer springs from lack of followup care after an abnormal screening. Meanwhile, seeking that care gives you very good odds of avoiding cancer outright or effectively treating it.
How much does Teal cost, and when will it be available?Teal is launching first in California in June, and at the time of launch will be in-network in the state with Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna, and United. The company plans to start rolling out nationwide later this year and work with insurance companies to cover both the wand and the telehealth services in each state. (You can join the waitlist to find out when it’s accessible where you live and if your policy will offer coverage.) Exact pricing is still TBD and will likely vary depending on your insurance plan; any out-of-pocket costs for the device will also be FSA- and HSA-eligible.
While Egan hopes Teal can reach people who might not otherwise be able to find or afford gynecological care, she also broadly aims to make screening more seamless and pleasant for anyone with a cervix: “If you’re busy or just would prefer a more comfortable way, this is for you.” The prospect of increasing screenings and followup care—no matter the motivation—feels especially timely at a moment when cervical cancer rates are newly on the rise in young women, following decades of decline. Given the power of cervical cancer screenings to detect pre-cancer (and even risk thereof), making them easier to do could not only reverse that trajectory, but alongside HPV vaccination and effective treatment, fully eliminate cervical cancer as a public health threat within our lifetimes.
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