Cervical

cervical-cancer-awareness-ribbon

Celebrate Cervical Cancer Awareness Month by scheduling your Pap test! 

Nearly 13,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer in the U.S. every year, but the disease is virtually preventable with HPV vaccination and screening.

What is Cervical Cancer?

Cancer that forms in tissues of the cervix (the organ connecting the uterus and vagina). It is usually a slow-growing cancer that may not have symptoms but can be found with regular Pap tests (a procedure in which cells are scraped from the cervix and looked at under a microscope). Cervical cancer is almost always caused by human papillomavirus (HPV) infection.

Cervical cancer can be caught early, and sometimes avoided entirely, by having regular Pap tests and not smoking. If caught early, cervical cancer is one of the most successfully treated cancers.

What you need to know about™ cancer of the cervix. 

 

 

 

Should I be screened? 

The American Cancer Society guidelines for the prevention and early detection of cervical cancer:

The American Cancer Society recommends that women follow these guidelines to help find cervical cancer early. Following these guidelines can also find pre-cancers, which can be treated to keep cervical cancer from forming.

All women should begin cervical cancer testing (screening) at age 21. Women aged 21 to 29, should have a Pap test every 3 years. HPV testing should not be used for screening in this age group (it may be used as a part of follow-up for an abnormal Pap test).

Beginning at age 30, the preferred way to screen is with a Pap test combined with an HPV test every 5 years. This is called co-testing and should continue until age 65.

Another reasonable option for women 30 to 65 is to get tested every 3 years with just the Pap test.

Women who are at high risk of cervical cancer because of a suppressed immune system (for example from HIV infection, organ transplant, or long term steroid use) or because they were exposed to DES in utero may need to be screened more often. They should follow the recommendations of their health care team.

Women over 65 years of age who have had regular screening in the previous 10 years should stop cervical cancer screening as long as they haven’t had any serious pre-cancers (like CIN2 or CIN3) found in the last 20 years (CIN stands for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and is discussed later in the section Work-up of an abnormal Pap test result). Women with a history of CIN2 or CIN3 should continue to have testing for at least 20 years after the abnormality was found.

Women who have had a total hysterectomy (removal of the uterus and cervix) should stop screening (such as Pap tests and HPV tests), unless the hysterectomy was done as a treatment for cervical pre-cancer (or cancer). Women who have had a hysterectomy without removal of the cervix (called a supra-cervical hysterectomy) should continue cervical cancer screening according to the guidelines above.

Women of any age should NOT be screened every year by any screening method

Women who have been vaccinated against HPV should still follow these guidelines.

Content provided by the website of the National Cancer Institute (http://www.cancer.gov )

 

The Link Between Cervical Cancer and Human Papillomavirus (HPV)

HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States.  Approximately 79 million Americans are currently infected with HPV, and 14 million people become newly infected each year.  HPV is spread via skin to skin sexual contact, and most people who become infected have no symptoms, and are unaware they are infected.

Cancer is the most serious possible complication from HPV infection. Each year 26,000 new cancers are attributable to HPV.  In both men and women it can cause cancer of the mouth/throat (oropharyngeal) and anal cancer. It can also cause cancers of the cervix, vulva, and vagina in women and cancer of the penis in men.

All parents need to know the HPV vaccine is considered cancer prevention. The HPV vaccine is recommended for both preteen boys and girls starting at age 11 or 12 so they are protected before ever being exposed to the virus. The vaccination is given as a series of 3 injections over several months, and it is important for children to receive all 3 injections to get the best protection.

The vaccine is covered by most insurance plans and free vaccines are available at local health departments for children and adolescents who are Medicaid-eligible or uninsured. The Region 10 Cancer and Chronic Disease Coalition is currently partnered with Lakeside Middle School and Memorial High School, both in Millville NJ-Cumberland County , to assist in educating parents and raise awareness about the importance of children receiving the HPV vaccine.

Please talk to your child’s pediatrician, school nurse, or local health department to learn more on the HPV vaccine. For more information you can log on to the following websites:

www.cdc.gov/vaccines/teens

hpv-cancer-prevention

References:

http://www.cdc.gov/hpv

http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/hpv/statistics/cases.htm