Ava MillerFOX Sports broadcaster Erin Andrews stepped into a different kind of spotlight in September 2026: partnering with Mediaplanet's Women vs. Cancer campaign in the Los Angeles Times to deliver a message shaped by a decade of personal experience — that cervical cancer, and dozens of other cancers, can be silently progressing in a body that feels perfectly healthy.
Andrews was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2016 during what she describes as an entirely routine screening. She had no symptoms. Two surgeries at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center later, she was declared cancer-free in 2017. Now 48, she is marking that 10-year milestone by partnering with Exact Sciences' CancerGuard, a prescription blood test that can detect signals associated with more than 50 cancer types and subtypes — including ovarian, pancreatic, liver, and stomach cancers that currently have no recommended standard screening.
Her message for anyone postponing their annual checkup: "Do it for yourself. Do it for your family."
The Campaign: Women vs. Cancer, September 2026
The Women vs. Cancer initiative, published in the September 20, 2026 issue of the Los Angeles Times, assembled an authoritative coalition: the Society of Gynecologic Oncology, the Foundation for Women's Cancers, the Milken Institute Women's Health Network, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, and the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition.
The campaign's dual focus is early detection and advocacy — pushing not just for individual screening compliance but for policy changes that reduce access barriers for uninsured and underserved women.
CancerGuard, the test at the center of Andrews' advocacy, is a laboratory-developed blood draw that analyzes DNA and protein signals to flag cancer-associated biomarkers across more than 50 types. It is designed to complement, not replace, existing standard screenings like the Pap smear, mammogram, or colonoscopy. The test requires a physician's prescription and, in 2026, is not yet universally covered by insurance, with out-of-pocket costs reported at approximately $249.
How Health Experts Read This Story
The power of Andrews' advocacy is not celebrity endorsement — it is the specificity of her experience, which maps directly onto a pattern physicians encounter constantly.
Asymptomatic early-stage cancer is the rule, not the exception. Cancer cells, in their earliest stage of proliferation, do not trigger pain receptors or cause visible symptoms. By the time a tumor is large enough to cause bleeding or pelvic discomfort — the symptoms most women associate with cervical disease — it has often advanced past Stage I.
Three developments in the current landscape stand out for health practitioners:
Multi-cancer detection is entering clinical practice. Tests like CancerGuard represent a paradigm shift. Rather than the historical model — one disease, one dedicated test — multi-cancer early detection technology screens a single blood draw against biomarker panels for dozens of cancer types simultaneously. For cancers like pancreatic or ovarian disease, which are typically diagnosed at late stages precisely because there is no routine screening, these tools could fundamentally change survival rates. Earlier this year, Mayo Clinic researchers announced an AI-assisted tool capable of detecting pancreatic cancer signals up to three years before a clinical diagnosis — a development that illustrates how fast this space is moving.
Standard screenings remain non-negotiable. Despite the promise of multi-cancer detection technology, physicians are clear: CancerGuard does not replace the Pap smear. Direct cervical cell sampling remains more sensitive to early-stage cervical lesions than a blood-based biomarker test. Andrews' own cancer was found via a Pap smear — the same test that has been part of well-woman visits since the 1950s and has reduced U.S. cervical cancer mortality by more than 70% over that period.
Non-compliance is the primary driver of late-stage diagnosis. According to the National Cancer Institute, a cervical cancer death is significantly more likely in a woman who has not been screened than in a woman whose screening results were managed — even imperfectly. The main barrier is not medical. It is behavioral: women who know the recommendation exists but postpone acting on it.
What a Health Expert Would Advise
If you consulted a primary care physician or gynecologist tomorrow about what Andrews' story means for your personal health decisions, a skilled practitioner would not offer a generic answer. They would do the following:
Review your complete screening history. How long since your last Pap smear? If you are 30 or older, have you had an HPV co-test, which extends the recommended screening interval to five years for women with normal results? Have you been vaccinated against HPV, and if so, at what age? These are the baseline questions that shape everything that follows.
Assess your individual risk profile. Family history of gynecologic, gastrointestinal, or hepatic cancers changes the calculus significantly. A woman whose mother had ovarian cancer and whose aunt had pancreatic cancer is a very different clinical case than a woman with no family history — and that difference directly determines whether a CancerGuard-type test is a reasonable next step or an unnecessary expenditure.
Determine whether multi-cancer detection is appropriate. The test is most beneficial for patients who have risk factors for cancers without dedicated screening protocols. A physician who knows your full medical history can make that call in a single consultation, tailoring a screening schedule to your actual risk rather than population-level averages.
ExpertZoom connects patients with licensed health practitioners who can review screening history, advise on emerging diagnostic tools like CancerGuard, and answer questions that a campaign brochure — however well-intentioned — cannot address with clinical precision.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Consult a licensed healthcare professional for decisions about screening, diagnosis, or treatment.
The Math That Makes Skipping a Screening Unaffordable
Consider Laura, a 38-year-old marketing manager in Denver, Colorado. She had her last Pap smear at 35 — results were normal. Between 35 and 38, she changed jobs, had a gap in health insurance, and kept postponing the rescheduled appointment. She is not unusual: studies suggest roughly 30% of American women in their late 30s have a Pap smear overdue by at least one screening cycle.
When Laura finally books her appointment at 38, her Pap smear returns an abnormal result. A follow-up colposcopy identifies high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL/CIN 3) — the precancerous stage that has a 30% probability of progressing to invasive cervical cancer within 10 years if untreated.
The treatment: a LEEP (Loop Electrosurgical Excision Procedure), a same-day outpatient procedure with an estimated out-of-pocket cost of $800–$2,500 depending on insurance plan and provider. Recovery is typically one to two weeks. Prognosis is excellent — CIN 3 treated with LEEP carries a cure rate above 90%.
Now consider what happens with a different timeline:
- If Laura had gone for her Pap at 36 instead of 38 (caught at CIN 1): A watchful-waiting protocol — repeat Pap in 12 months, no surgery. In roughly 60% of CIN 1 cases, the lesion resolves on its own within two years. Out-of-pocket cost: zero beyond a standard office copay.
- If Laura delays her next visit another five years after her CIN 3 diagnosis: A Stage I invasive cervical cancer diagnosis carries average treatment costs between $30,000 and $100,000, a recovery measured in months, and a real possibility of long-term fertility impact.
The difference between those three outcomes is not a matter of medical complexity. It is a matter of months on a calendar and, in 2026, a $249 blood test that can flag cancers her Pap smear will never catch.
If Laura's physician, after reviewing her family history, determines that CancerGuard is clinically appropriate, the order is placed at the same visit. One blood draw. A result within two weeks. A clear picture of whether the 50+ cancer types the test monitors are sending detectable signals in her bloodstream.
Erin Andrews' two surgeries and 10-year advocacy carry one practical instruction: make the appointment. The Pap smear that found her cancer cost nothing more than 15 minutes and a routine copay.
Four Steps to Take This Week
The Andrews campaign is asking for a simple response. Here is a concrete version of what that looks like:
Check your last Pap smear date. If it has been more than three years — or more than five since a normal HPV co-test after age 30 — contact your gynecologist or primary care provider this week.
Write down your family cancer history. Before the appointment, list first-degree relatives' cancer diagnoses. This is the single piece of information most likely to change what your doctor recommends in the next 15 minutes.
Ask specifically about multi-cancer detection. Not every patient needs CancerGuard. But every patient who qualifies should have the conversation. Ask your physician whether your risk profile warrants it.
Book a consultation if you have unresolved questions. If you haven't seen a doctor in years, don't know your HPV vaccination status, or have a complex family history, a licensed health practitioner can map out a screening schedule that fits your individual risk — not the population average.
Erin Andrews' message is not complicated: "Do it for yourself. Do it for your family." The screenings are available. The tests exist. The only thing standing between early detection and late-stage diagnosis is the appointment that has been sitting on the to-do list.
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