Cervical Cancer Essay

This year alone approximately 12,360 documented new cases of cervical cancer in the United States and 4,020 deaths according to National Cancer Institute (“Cervical Cancer”, 2014). Cervical cancer is a slow growing cancer that grows in the tissues of the cervix (an organ that connects the uterus and vagina). The disease is predominantly caused by the human papillomavirus infection (HPV). According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the HPV virus is so common that nearly all sexually active women and men get it at some point in their lives. Many types of HPV exist, some causing genital warts and potentially cervical cancer. Individuals can get HPV by having unprotected genital to genital touching, oral, vaginal, or anal sex. Anyone who is sexually active can get HPV, and can develop symptoms years after they had sex with someone who is infected, making it difficult to know when they first became infected.

You are older than 65 and you have not had a serious cervical pre-cancer or cancer in the last 20 years.

Cervical cancer is when there are malignant cells present in the cervix; it is developed in the lining of the cervix. A cervix is a narrow opening located at the bottom of the uterus that leads into the vagina. Cervical cancer mostly affects women between the ages of 40 and 55. This cancer can be prevented by screening for precancerous cells, and it can also be cured if it is detected at an early stage. Over the past few decades the number of cervical cancer cases has declined dramatically due to a more widespread screening of the disease. Today, it is estimated that 10,000 new

Cervical cancer is caused by the uncontrollable growth of cells in the cervix, the lower part of the uterus that opens into the vagina. Some signs of cervical cancer are abnormal bleeding in the vagina (between menstrual cycles, after sex, and after menopause), pain in the lower belly, pain during sex, and abnormal vaginal discharge.

Usually HPV goes away on its own and does not cause any health problems. But when that does not happen it can cause problems like general warts and cancer. According to the CDC, genital warts usually appear as a small bump or group of bumps in the genital area. They can be small or large, raised or flat, or shaped like a cauliflower. A healthcare provider can usually diagnose warts by looking at the genital area. There is no way to know who will develop cancer from HPV. According to the CDC, cancer often takes years, even decades, to develop after a person gets HPV. The types of HPV that can cause genital warts are not the same as the types of HPV that can cause cancers. People with a weak immune system like those infected with HIV/Aids are more likely to develop health problems from HPV. Cervical cancer early on many not cause any symptoms. As the cancer advance women can experience bleeding or discharge from the vagina that is not normal for them, such as bleeding after sex. These symptoms could also be cause by other thing, but the only way to be sure is to see a doctor.

Some signs and symptoms of cervical cancer are abnormal vaginal bleeding or discharge and pelvic pain and pressure. Cervical cancer is preventable with regular screening tests. One test is a Pap test sometimes also called a Pap smear. This test looks for precancerous cells that

Signs and symptoms of oropharyngeal cancer include a lump in the neck and a sore throat.

According to the National Cancer Institute, not all human papillomaviruses (HPV) cause cancer. There are two types of categories; the low risk and high risk human papillomaviruses. If one contracts a high risk HPVs, they have a chance of developing cancer. High risk HPVs can lead to cervical cancer, anal cancer, oropharyngeal cancer, vaginal cancers, vulvar cancers, and penile cancers (1). The National Cancer Institute states that HPVs account for causing 5% of cancers and Nathan Seppa proclaims “that the two cancer-causing virus subtypes... HPV-16 and HPV-18, account for more than half of cervical cancers” (1 and 2). This demonstrates the overall impact HPV has on causing cancer.

Cervical cancer has caused life to be difficult for women who have been diagnosed with it. It is hard for them to continue with a normal life due to treatments and just worrying about what could happen to them. Another complication with cervical cancer is your ability to have children. But, there are ways to prevent cervical cancer that everyone should be educated with.

Women with many sexual partners: Having multiple sexual partners is an important reason for cervical cancer. This journal articles (Peters et al., 1986) talks about multiple sexual partners being one of the main reasons for having invasive squamous cell carcinoma which is a type of cervical cancer. For those women who are under 20 and have multiple sexual partners, chances of having cervical cancer

In women, HPV can cause infertility and the removal of reproductive organs if cancer occurs. Also the cancers that these cause are very aggressive and can be hard to treat because they are asymptomatic and can lie dormant for year and years. So by the time of diagnosis it is sometimes too far advanced. This is why even if a woman was to get a vaccine it is still extremely important to go to the gynecologist for a pap smear because although the newer Gardasil protects against many different strains, viruses that it

Other vaginal infections such as bacterial Vaginosis; common sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) like gonorrhea, Chlamydia and Trichomoniasis; Human Papillomavirus (HPV) infections that cause genital warts and can lead to cervical cancer; Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID)

In Cytology the majority of the samples received are part of the NHS (National Health Service) cervical screening programme. This programme facilitates the screening of cervical smears slides, looking for abnormal cells in a woman’s cervix, that may go on to form cervical cancer. 99.7 % of cervical cancers are caused by a sexually transmitted infection called Human Papilloma Virus (HPV). There are over a hundred different types of the HPV virus and certain ones are counted as more ‘high risk’. 80% of the population will have HPV at some point in their lives and in most cases their immune system will get rid of it within a couple of years. Scientists still don't understand why some women are able to clear the infection, while in others the

Cervical cancer is one type of cancer happening from the cervix due to abnormal growth of cells. There are many reasons to cause cervical cancer. One of them is that the abnormal cells from other parts of body are able to invade or spread to the cervix and cause the abnormal growth. Unfortunately, in early stage, typically no symptoms are seen, and later symptoms may include abnormal vaginal bleeding, pelvic pain, or pain during sexual intercourse. What’s more, when bleeding after sex, it also may indicate the presence of cervical cancer.7

Cervical cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer related mortality in countries such as India accounting for more than 17% of all cancer deaths in women aged 30-69. [3] Cervical cancer is one such type of cancer in which screening plays a significant role. Clinical trials done in below poverty level populations do encounter ethical issues to a certain extent with regards to informed consent as most or all of these patients are illiterate. However informed consent is extremely important when justifying data for such clinical trials. Countries such as US have implemented Pap smear screening as one of the most important cervical cancer screening methods. In countries as densely populated as India where proper healthcare facilities does not reach slums and extremely poverty stricken societies, alternatives for screening are indicated- VIA or Visual inspection with acetic acid