January 2017

HEALTH
by David Volz
EARLY DETECTION IS
KEY TO SURVIVING
Cervical Cancer
Cervical cancer is a disease
that can be detected
early with the proper
screening tests. There are
vaccines to prevent human
papillomavirus (HPV),
which is the main cause of
cervical cancer.
Half of cervical cancers occur
among women who are
seldom or never screened
for cancer and about 10 to 20
percent occur among women who
were screened but did not receive
adequate follow-up care. When cervical
cancer is found early, it usually responds well to treatment and
most who receive proper treatments have a long survival and
high quality of life. Women aged 21 to 65 should receive regular
cervical cancer screening. The Papanicolaou (Pap) test detects
precancers, which are cell changes in the cervix that could
become cancerous if not treated properly. Women should start
getting Pap tests at age 21 and then every three years. Women
age 30 and older may get a HPV test along with a Pap test. If
both test results are normal, more testing may not be needed
for five years.
To prevent cervical cancer,
there are vaccines to
prevent HPV infection. HPV
vaccines offer the most
health benefit to people
who receive all three doses
before exposure to HPV
through sexual activity.
Regular HPV vaccination
is recommended for girls
and boys at age 11 or 12
years. Vaccination is also
recommended for women
through age 26 and men
through age 21 who have
never been vaccinated,
according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Cervical cancer begins in the cells lining the cervix – the lower
part of the uterus. This is also known as the uterine cervix.
The normal cells of the cervix gradually develop pre-cancerous
changes that turn into cancer. Physicians use several terms
to describe these pre-cancerous changes, including cervical
intraepithelial neoplasia, squamous intraepithelial neoplasia,
squamous intraepithelial lesion, and dysplasia. These changes
can be detected by a Pap test and treated to prevent the cancer
from developing.
Cervical cancers and cervical pre-cancers
are classified by how they look under a
microscope. The main types of cervical
cancers are squamous cell carcinoma and
adenocarcinoma.
Although cervical cancers start
from cells with pre-cancerous
changes, only some of the
women with pre-cancers of
the cervix will develop cancer.
It usually takes several years
for cervical pre-cancer to
change to cervical cancer, but
it can happen in less than a
year. For most women, precancerous
cells will go away
without any treatment. Still,
in some women pre-cancers
turn into true cancers. Treating
all cervical pre-cancers can
prevent almost all true cervical
cancers. Although almost
all cervical cancers are either squamous cell carcinomas or
adenocarcinomas, other types of cancer also can develop in the
cervix. These other types, such as melanoma, sarcoma, and
lymphoma, occur more commonly in other parts of the body,
according to the American Cancer Society.
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JANUARY 2017