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Cervical Cancer, Prevention and Treatment

ADAM Inc.

Isabel M. Estrada Portales
07/01/2005

With approximately 10,520 new cases of cervical cancer diagnosed last year in the U.S., and about 3,900 deaths, this can be a very serious disease. However, it is preventable, and treatable.

Overall, the death rate from cervical cancer is 40% higher among Latina women than non-Hispanic women.

Although invasive cervical cancer can be prevented by regular screening, Latinas have a low rate of Pap testing. This is an issue for most minority women.

Cervical cancer occurs when normal cells in the cervix change into cancer cells. This normally takes several years to happen, but it can also happen in a very short period of time.

The good news is that there are ways to help prevent cervical cancer. By getting regular (every 1 to 3 years) Pap tests and pelvic exams, your health care provider can find and treat the changing cells before they turn into cancer.

The Pap test, or Pap smear, checks for changes in the cells of your cervix. The cervix is the lower part of the uterus (womb) that opens into the vagina (birth canal). The Pap test can tell if you have an infection, abnormal (unhealthy) cells, or cancer.

If the Pap test shows something confusing or a minor change in the cells of the cervix, the test may be done again. If the test shows a major change in the cells of the cervix, the health care provider may perform a colposcopy.

Today, genital infection with human papillomavirus, HPV is the most common sexually transmitted viral infection in the United States. An estimated 6.2 million new genital HPV infections occur each year. Overall, about 75 percent of the US adult population has been exposed to HPV.

By the age of 50, it is estimated that 80 percent of women have contracted HPV, and it is likely that similar rates of infection would be found in men if good HPV testing methods were available for males.

“It is now agreed that 100 percent of cervical cancer is caused by HPV,” says Dr. Debbie Saslow in the January 2005 issue of Health and Sexuality dedicated to cervical cancer to coincide with the national awareness month for this disease. “The actual number is about 99.7 percent, but it is thought that the 0.3 percent is due to failure of testing rather than the absence of HPV.”

The vast majority of genital HPV infections cause no symptoms and go away on their own. But genital HPV remains a public health concern because persistent infection with certain high-risk types can cause cervical cancer.

Herschel Lawson, MD, senior medical advisor in the Division of Cancer Prevention and Control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that genital HPV infection is especially common among sexually active young women [less than 25 years of age], with prevalence decreasing with older age.

“The higher rates in younger women appear to be related to transmission of new infection during the early years of sexual activity, with infection clearing over time in most women,” said Lawson.

A woman's risk for cervical cancer increases when she starts having sex before age 18, has many sexual partners, has sexual partners who have other sexual partners, has or has had HPV or genital warts, has or has had a sexually transmitted disease (STD), is over the age of 60, and/or smokes.