Cervical Cancer
Each of the body’s organs and tissues are made up of basic
units called cells. These cells age and, in most cases, they are replaced by
younger cells that divide to produce new cells.
This orderly process keeps our body healthy by replenishing or
repairing aged, worn and damaged tissues.
Rarely, an error in cell division may occur creating an
abnormal cell that may continue to divide and perpetuate itself.
If these cells continue dividing when new cells are not needed,
a mass of tissue forms and this is referred to as a tumor.
Tumors may be either benign (non-cancerous) or malignant
(cancerous). This process
occurs in all living tissues and when an error in cell division occurs
our immune system is sensitive to this and it identifies the error and
destroys the cell. When a
cancer develops to the point that it is detected, it is because these
abnormal cells were not detected by the surveillance of the immune
system.
Each year about 15,000 women in the United States learn that they have
cancer of the cervix. The
cervix is part of the female reproductive system.
It is the lower narrow part of the uterus (womb).
It is located in the lower abdomen between the bladder and the
rectum and it forms a canal that opens from the uterus into the
vagina, leading to the outside of the body.
This cancer usually affects women between 40 and 55 years of
age. Pre-cancerous
lesions of the cervix can be detected by the Pap test and the great
majority of women with these types of lesions can be cured without the
need for hysterectomy. This
test has dramatically helped lower the incidence of cervical cancer in
developed countries where it is used as a screening tool. This test also detects invasive cancers and when detected
early they can often be cured with surgery or radiation treatment.
Cervical cancer may develop in women who have been infected
with the Human Papillomavirus (HPV), a sexually transmitted virus.
There is perhaps no other single word that strikes as much terror as
being told that you have “cancer”.
Often, patients initially feel that they are alone in carrying
this diagnosis; however, in fact, there are 16,000 cases of invasive
cervical cancer each year in the United States and over 50,000 cases
of pre-invasive cancer. There
are over 400,000 cases of cervical cancer worldwide.
These numbers would drop dramatically if every woman would get
an annual Pap smear.
A Pap test, or “smear”, can be done in a doctor’s office or a
health clinic using a small wooden scraper or a small brush to collect
some of the surface lining cells of the cervix and upper vagina.
These are applied, or “smeared”, to a glass slide so that
they may be examined by experts screening for pre-cancerous or
cancerous cells. This is
a relatively simple, painless test that can be performed at the time
of an annual pelvic examination.
Symptoms of cervical cancer include redness, inflammation or sores in
the cervix that are visible during a pelvic examination, abnormal
bleeding, heavy and particularly lengthy menstrual periods, bleeding
after menopause and sometimes increased vaginal discharge.
By limiting your number of sexual partners, using condoms or avoiding
sex with people who have had many other sexual partners, you decrease
your risk of exposure to HPV and may decrease your risk for cervical
cancer. See your
physician or nurse practitioner for an annual Pap smear to detect
pre-cancerous or cancerous lesions at an early curable stage.
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