How rare is it that a 21 year old catch cervical cancer... what is the age range?

Time sexually active: Pap smear screening for cervical cancer should start at beginning of sexual activity or at age 20, whichever comes first. It should continue at least througout the woman's reproductive lifespan, since this is the time she can be sexually active. Any woman during this time can get cervical cancer through sexual activity by getting the hpv infection.

Very rare before 21: Cervical cancer is rare before age 21, and doing pap smears before then actually may cause more harm than good because it leads to more falsely positive test results. Cervical cancer is most common at age 35-55. The current us preventive services task force recommendation is to get paps every 3 years at ages 21-65. A good prevention resource is an iphone app called my health checklist 2012.