WASHINGTON (October 22, 2012)--Guidelines issued Monday recommend that women can wait three to five years between checks for cervical cancer, depending on their age and test choice.

Many medical groups have long recommended a Pap test every three years for most women.

The new advice from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says that's true for women ages 21 to 29 whose Pap tests show no sign of trouble, but for healthy women ages 30 to 65, the preferred check is a Pap test plus a test for the cancer-causing HPV virus, the group concluded.

If both show everything's fine, they can wait five years for further screening.

The guidelines from America's largest OB-GYN organization agree with advice issued earlier this year by a government panel, the American Cancer Society and other medical groups,

There's growing consensus that it's safe for the right women to wait longer between Paps.

Cervical cancer grows so slowly that regular Pap smears, which examine cells scraped from the cervix, can find signs early enough to treat before a tumor even forms.