HPV & Cervical Cancer - What Every Woman Should Know
I was eighteen years old when I had my first abnormal pap smear. I received a call from my OB/GYN's office and was informed that I had the Human Papilloma Virus show up on my pap smear. This was the first pap smear I had ever had, and I was terrified. The news got worse. I researched this virus and learned that it was actually a sexually transmitted disease that could either cause cervical cancer, or genital warts! I didn’t understand, I had been with my boyfriend for five years and he was my first partner. How could I have contracted a sexually transmitted disease?
I had a biopsy done to test my cervix for cancer. The
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The cells are then sent out to a laboratory for testing. This generally takes two weeks. Most labs use the Bethesda System SIL to measure the amount of cell changes, if any. This system measures “normal” at one end of the chart, to “invasive cancer” at the other end. Generally it is difficult to determine the stage or grade of cell changes which occur. This often means diagnosis and treatment are difficult to make. (623).
The Boston Women’s Health Collective has estimated that 40% of all women tested will have at least one abnormal pap smear within their lifetime. Therefore it is recommended that women of all ages receive annual pap smears to find any pre-cancerous changes before they become invasive. (624).
Recommendations:
The American Cancer Society has made recommendations as to when women should be tested. They are as follows:
All women should begin having the Pap test about 3 years after they start having sex (vaginal intercourse), but no later than 21 years of age.
The test should be done every year if the regular Pap test is used, or every 2 to 3 years if the newer liquid-based Pap test is used. Either test is OK.
Beginning at age 30, women who have had 3 normal test results in a row may get the test every 2 to 3 years. Another option for women over 30 is to have one of the Pap tests every 3 years PLUS the HPV DNA test.
Women who have certain risk factors
What is the Human Papillomavirus? Commonly known as HPV, it is an infection that spreads through sexual contact. There are over one hundred different types of HPV; several types cause genital warts, while other high risk strands can lead to cancer of the cervix, anus, vagina, and penis. Because HPV is often asymptomatic, many people are unaware of their infection status, and thus, their potential for transmitting the virus to a sexual partner. The significance of the Human Papillomavirus is that fifty percent of Americans who are sexually active will contract it within their lives, and at any given point there are twenty million Americans already infected with it (“By the numbers: HPV Vaccine”).
have had a cervical smear test in the past 5 years. Half of the women
The ACS guidelines also recommend screening men who are at high risk as early as 40 years of age (black, relative that was diagnosed young, Braca 1 (breast cancer) 1 or Braca 2. However, the USPSTF advises against PCa screening concluding there is moderate certainty that the benefits of such screening do not outweigh the harms (Quaseem et al., 2013).
HPV is so common in the United States that nearly all men and women will contract the virus at some point during life (Center for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2017). In the United States, in 2008, it is reported that 3.2 million, or one in four adolescent women, ages 14 to 19 have had or have an STD (Kostas-Polston et al., 2012). The rate of HPV cases has only increased since 2008. The prevalence of a genital infection with any HPV type was 42.5% among United States during 2013–2014 (CDC, 2017). The incidence of HPV in the United States is about 14 million people each year.
According to the recommendations of the USPSTF (2016a), your daughter should start getting a Pap Smear at age
This means there are problems with the Pap smear, as it doesn’t always recognise pre-cancerous cells at an early stage. Especially if they might have missed a cervical screening in between. In addition, some pre-cancerous cells may not be picked up until three or four tests later.
Should schools require students to have the HPV vaccine? Human Papilloma Virus better known as HPV is a sexually transmitted infection that has the slight chance of becoming cervical cancer. Requiring that the vaccination for HPV be administered at the age of eleven before entering school is unjust and in reality unnecessary. The vaccine only protects against HPV for four to five years. Most eleven year olds do not even think about sex, and by the time they do have sex the vaccine is no longer effective in preventing HPV. The vaccine also cost upwards to four hundred dollars making families that can not afford it have to either go into debt or avoid the vaccine. Parents should be the ones to decide wether a child gets the vaccine.
A pap test is better known as a “pap smear” and it checks for cervical cancer. During a pap smear the physician collects a sample of cells from a woman’s cervix. Then the cells are placed on a microscope and examined for abnormalities that could be an indication of cervical cancer. A breast exam is done by a physician when a physician feels a person’s breast and underarm area to search for any abnormalities that could be an indication of breast cancer. Early detection of either cancer provides a higher survival rate. Planned Parenthood works with women with and without insurance to ensure they get the testing and care they
The most common sexually transmitted infection (STI) is human papillomavirus (HPV) (CDC, 2013). Over half of sexually activity people will become infected with HPV at some point in their lifetime (National Cancer Institute, 2012). HPV can fall into two categories: low-risk HPV and high-risk HPV (National Cancer Institute, 2012). Low-risk HPV, also known as HPV types 6 and 11, cause about 90% of genital warts (National Cancer Institute, 2012). High-risk HPV, also known as HPV types 16 and 18, causes about 70% of cervical cancer (National Cancer Institute, 2012).
There are usually no symptoms or signs of CIN, and the diagnosis is most often based on biopsy findings following an abnormal routine cervical cytology smear. Because high-grade dysplasia probably is a transitional phase in the pathogenesis of many cervical cancers, early detection is extremely important. Based on the American Cancer Society guidelines, which were last revised in 2002, all women who have reached age 21 years, or who are 3 years past coitarche, should have a pelvic examination and collection of a cytologic smear. The cervical cytology smear should be performed annually in case of conventional Papanicolaou (Pap) smears, and biannually if using liquid-based cytology. Once a patient is age 30 years or older and has had 3 consecutive
Cervical screening test are available in different area depending on choice of who will take the smear. This can be done by a local doctor or a nurse practitioner, family planning, any sexual health services, marae-based or other Maori health centres and community health service for Pacific or women’s health centre.
The recommended screening tool is a Pap smear. It is usually performed in all women who have had sex from beginning of sexual activity up to 70 years. This test is done every two years. The doctor looks at the cervix using a speculum to visualize and assess the normality of the tissue. The cervix is scraped for tissue which will be smeared onto a slide and the doctor will look for the aforementioned abnormal changes. Further tests are colposcopy and staging the disease by examination, biopsy, chest x-rays, MRI and so on.
According to the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS) the human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection (STI). I wasn’t aware that it impacts so many people; SIECUS reports that each year there are approximately 6.2 million new cases of HPV and that 75% of people between ages 15 and 49 have had a genital HPV infection. This isn’t something that I hear about as an adult male in this country. Before conducting research, I was only aware that HPV was tied to cervical cancer and there was a vaccine for young women. In the last decade, the understanding of HPV has increased considerably. Although schools don’t require the vaccination it’s recommended that children age 11-12. People have till their mid-20’s to receive a “catch up” immunization. HPV is responsible for causing more than 90% of anal and cervical cancers, about 70% of vaginal and vulvar cancers, and more than 60% of penile cancers and HPV is linked to 70% of oropharynx cancers (CDC, 2015). Not all people infected have complications, in fact, most people are asymptomatic and
Although there are several known risk factors for getting cervical cancer, no one knows exactly why one woman gets it and another doesn't. One of the most important risk factors for cervical cancer is infection with a virus called HPV (human papillomavirus). HPV is a sexually transmitted disease that is incredibly common in the population, one study showed that 43% of college age women were infected in a 3-year period. HPV is the virus that causes genital warts, but having genital warts doesn't necessarily mean you are going to get cervical cancer. There are different subtypes, or strains, of HPV. Only certain subtypes are likely to cause cervical cancer, and the subtypes that cause warts are unlikely to cause a cancer. Often, infection with HPV causes no symptoms at all, until a woman develops a pre-cancerous lesion mostly of the cervix. Because infection with a STD is a risk factor for cervical cancer, any risk factors for developing STD are also risk factors for developing cervical cancer. Women who have had many or several male sexual partners, having sexual intercourse at an early age, or have had male sexual partners who are considered high risk (meaning that they have had several sexual partners and/or began having sexual intercourse at an early age) are at higher risks for developing Cervical
Three separate randomized controlled trials for cervical screening have been conducted among Indian women of the