Palm Beach Gardens Lving - January 2026

4 PA L M B E A C H G A R D E N S L I V I N G | J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 6 SCHEDULE REGULAR EXAMS Dr. Pinnell—who typically treats cancer of the cervix, ovaries, endometrium/uterus, vagina, and vulva — encourages women to pick up the phone or log into their health portal and schedule an overdue screening test or a visit with their healthcare provider as soon as possible. Recommendations include Pap tests for cervical cancer, typically recommended every 3 years until age 30, followed by a Pap test plus HPV screening every 3-5 years to age 65. Women with a known risk factor for cancer or a history of HPV infection should be screened more frequently, in consultation with their health care provider. Women can end regular screenings at age 65 if recent Pap and HPV screening tests have both been negative, says Dr. Pinelli, but if you’re not sure, ask your healthcare provider to check your records or do both the Pap and HPV test before ending regular screenings. Exams and testing should be performed more frequently in women who have symptoms or risk factors, especially a history of HPV, or human papilloma virus. The Pap test is increasingly being combined with or replaced by a screening test for HPV, she points out. Follow recommendations and keep track of timing and results, says Dr. Pinelli. When cancer is detected, Dr. Pinelli sometimes recommends genetic testing to determine if the patient or other family members are at risk for related cancers. A s a women’s cancer specialist at Jupiter Medical Center for nearly 30 years, Dr. Donna Pinelli is accustomed to diagnosing, treating, and curing cancer for thousands of women. But, she’s concerned about an emerging phenomenon: the lingering impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, marked by women patients with more serious symptoms and more advanced cancers than normal. Why? “There are a lot of people who got out of the habit of going to their doctor during the pandemic,” says Dr. Pinelli, MD, medical director of Gynecologic Oncology and the Frank E. and Mary D. Walsh Robotic Surgery Program at Jupiter Medical Center's Anderson Family Cancer Institute. “And a lot of people still haven’t gotten back into the habit of going to the doctor on a regular basis and scheduling their cancer screening exams.” Some of her patients arrive with cancers that are more difficult to treat because they weren’t detected and diagnosed early, she explains. “These are turning out to be advanced cancers when they shouldn’t be,” Dr. Pinelli explains. “Many patients say they last had a Pap test or a mammogram in 2019, which tells me they’re not getting their recommended regular screenings. It’s one of the biggest challenges we’re seeing today.” Treatments are also more challenging in women whose abnormal Pap smears have been delayed or overlooked, “and those women can end up having problems later in life,” explains Dr. Pinelli. “Between the Pap smear as an early screening tool and the HPV vaccine as an early prevention tool, our cancer rates should be 0%, and they’re not.” EXPERT CONTRIBUTOR – By Sue MacDonald – Delayed Screenings &Cancer: “ONE OF THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES WE’RE FACING TODAY” For more information or to schedule an appointment for a newly diagnosed cancer, contact Jupiter Medical Center at 561-263-4400.