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# Screening in women's health: cervical cancer, breast cancer and the Res. 3280 schedule

- Safe practice

In Colombia, nurses screen women for cervical cancer by age and place of residence, examine the breasts from 40, and make sure every result reaches the woman.

Updated Nov 13, 2026

## Key points

- Cervix, urban areas: cytology at 25–29 years (scheme 1-3-3); high-risk HPV DNA test at 30–65 years (scheme 1-5-5).
- Every HPV DNA sample is taken together with a cytology sample, cytology first; the cytology is read only if HPV is positive (triage).
- Dispersed rural areas, 30–50 years: visual inspection with acetic acid and Lugol's iodine (VIA/VILI) and «see and treat».
- Breast: clinical breast examination every year from 40; two-view mammography every 2 years from 50 to 69.
- A positive HPV test is not a cancer diagnosis: it means more testing.

## What it is

Cervical and breast cancer screening looks for disease before symptoms, when treatment works best. Colombia's health promotion route (Resolución 3280 de 2018) sets which test each woman gets by age and where she lives, and names nursing among the professions that take cervical samples and examine the breasts. The nurse's job does not end with the sample: the route asks for an active search for women with a positive result, quick referral to colposcopy and a card with the next appointment.

## What it requires

- Res. 3280 de 2018: cytology, HPV DNA tests and VIA/VILI are the cervical screening tests, chosen by age and place of residence.
- Cytology and HPV DNA samples may be taken by medicine, nursing or bacteriology professionals or a certified cyto-histotechnologist; where none of them works, a trained and certified nursing assistant may take them.
- VIA/VILI may be done only by doctors or professional nurses trained and certified in the technique and in immediate cryotherapy.
- The clinical breast examination is done by a general practitioner, family doctor or nurse trained and certified for it.
- WHO: almost all cervical cancer comes from persistent high-risk HPV infection; women living with HIV are screened from 25, more often.
- WHO accepts an HPV sample collected by the woman herself as being as reliable as one taken by a provider.

## Components

- Information and education before the test, and a filled-in screening card.
- Cervical sample or visual inspection; clinical breast examination; mammography order by age.
- Sample control, results management and delivery of results.
- Records, next appointment and referral to the cancer care route when a test is positive.

## How it is applied (and why)

- Ask about age, last screening test and result, HPV vaccination and residence — the test and the interval depend on them.
- Explain the test, what a positive result means and why she must collect it — women who never get their result are not screened.
- Offer a calm, private space and invite her to say if anything hurts — this is part of the procedure in Res. 3280.
- Take the cervical sample by age group, or the VIA/VILI where it applies — the right test for the right age avoids over- and under-screening.
- From 40, examine both breasts and armpits and ask about family history — a hereditary risk sends her to the breast cancer route.
- From 50 to 69, order or check the two-view mammography every 2 years — this is the population screening test for breast cancer.
- Fill in the card: date, test, professional and next appointment — the card keeps the schedule when she changes provider.
- Track results; with a positive result, search for the woman and arrange the visit and colposcopy within the route's deadlines — delay lets disease progress.

## In nursing practice

- If the speculum examination shows signs that suggest invasive cancer, tell the woman, raise an alert and arrange colposcopy and biopsy within 1 week, without waiting for the screening result.
- Positive HPV with negative triage cytology: control HPV test at 18 months. Both positive: colposcopy and biopsy within 30 days.
- Screening stops after 65 only when previous tests in the last five years, especially HPV DNA, were negative.
- Teach that symptoms such as bleeding after sex, between periods or after menopause need a visit even if the last test was normal.

## Common mistakes

- Taking cytology alone in a woman of 30–65 when the route calls for the HPV DNA test.
- Giving the sample but no card and no date for the result.
- Not searching for the woman whose result was positive.
- Telling a woman with a positive HPV test that she has cancer.

## Test yourself

Think of the answer, then tap the question to see it.

## Which cervical screening test does Res. 3280 set for a woman of 35 in a city?

The high-risk HPV DNA test, every 5 years when negative (scheme 1-5-5), with a cytology sample taken at the same time for triage.

## From what age does Res. 3280 call for a yearly clinical breast examination?

From 40 years. Two-view mammography every 2 years is added from 50 to 69.

## Who may do VIA/VILI visual inspection in Colombia?

Only doctors or professional nurses trained and certified in the technique and in immediate cryotherapy.

## What should the nurse do if the cervix looks like invasive cancer during screening?

Tell the woman, raise an alert and arrange colposcopy and biopsy within 1 week, without waiting for the screening result.

[Add to my cards (4)](https://durgical.app/estudiar/?add=/en/nursing/screening-in-women-s-health-cervical-cancer-breast-cancer-and-the-res-3280-sched/)

## Elsewhere in DurgiPedia

- [Clinical breast examination](https://durgical.com/en/clinical-exam/clinical-breast-examination/)
- [Principles of screening](https://durgical.com/en/epidemiology/principles-of-screening/)

## Connections

## Related 2

- [Taking a cervical cytology or HPV sample and assisting the pelvic examination](https://durgical.com/en/nursing/taking-a-cervical-cytology-or-hpv-sample-and-assisting-the-pelvic-examination/)
- [Colombia's health promotion and maintenance route (Res. 3280 de 2018) from the nursing side](https://durgical.com/en/nursing/colombia-s-health-promotion-and-maintenance-route-from-the-nursing-side/)

## Related conditions 3

- [Cervical cancer](https://durgical.com/en/conditions/cervical-cancer/)
- [Cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (cervical dysplasia)](https://durgical.com/en/conditions/cervical-intraepithelial-neoplasia/)
- [Breast cancer](https://durgical.com/en/conditions/breast-cancer/)

[← All of nursing](https://durgical.com/en/nursing/)

Educational content for students; it does not replace your institution's protocols, supervised clinical training or a prescriber's order. Dose-calculation examples use made-up numbers: they are educational, not a clinical order.

Sources: [Resolución 3280 de 2018: Ruta Integral de Atención para la Promoción y Mantenimiento de la Salud y Ruta Materno Perinatal (sections 9 and 10, early detection of cervical and breast cancer)](https://www.minsalud.gov.co/sites/rid/Lists/BibliotecaDigital/RIDE/DE/DIJ/resolucion-3280-de-2018.pdf) (Ministerio de Salud y Protección Social de Colombia, 2018); [Cervical cancer (fact sheet)](https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/cervical-cancer) (World Health Organization, 2026).

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Source: https://durgical.com/en/nursing/screening-in-women-s-health-cervical-cancer-breast-cancer-and-the-res-3280-sched/
License: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Cite as: DurgiPedia (durgical.com), https://durgical.com/en/nursing/screening-in-women-s-health-cervical-cancer-breast-cancer-and-the-res-3280-sched/