The transformation zone (highlighted in green in the image), plays an important role in the development of this cancer. You see, cervical cancer tends to be a bit complicated. A lot of changes occur in the cervix; natural changes, before cancer (pre-cancerous stage) and during cancer itself. Throughout these changes, the appearance of the cervix also alters.
Without getting into too much jargon, a key point to note would be: cervical cancer affects two types of cells lining the cervix. However, the majority of the cases are squamous cell cancers. This arises primarily from the transformation zone. Secondly, this zone is important because the doctor will acquire tissue samples when performing a Pap smear.
Now that you have an idea of the normal
…show more content…
The disease is said to be advanced if you have weight loss, bloody urine, urine from the vagina and bony aches.
How do I know I have cancer?
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.
Is there a cure?
When the abnormal growth occurs, our immune system helps to resolve it. However, when cancer develops, there is no definitive “cure”. Treatment will either be chemotherapy, radiotherapy and/or surgery (removal of the whole uterus with or without the ovaries and surrounding nodes). Where exactly do you stand if you have cancer? The average survival rate for 5 years is about 61%. Early stages have a better chance than the later
There are multiple methods for screening for Prostate Cancer; the most common is Digital Rectal Examination. During a digital rectal exam a doctor inserts a glove, lubricated finger into the rectum to feel for any irregular or abnormal firm area in the prostate gland.
Getting a cervical cancer screening with a Pap Smear can enable a practitioner to detect early signs of cervical cancer by allowing identification of precancerous lesions (USPSTF, 2016a). Early detection can decrease the incidence of cervical cancer and, ultimately, reduce mortality rates related to cervical cancer (USPSTF, 2016a).
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
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.
Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program Journal of Women’s Health 20(10):1479-84 doi: 10.1089/jwh.2010.2530. Epub 2011 Jul 20
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.
Cervical Cancer affects around 34000 women every year around the UK (Bupa UK, 2013). Cervical Cancer is a result of the mutation of the DNA caused by the by the Human papillomavirus (HPV), (NHS, 2013).
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.
Abnormal changes on your cervix are likely caused by HPV. The changes may be minor (low-grade) or serious (high-grade). Most of the time, minor changes go back to normal on their own. But more serious changes can turn into cancer if they are not removed. The more serious changes are often called “precancer” because they are not yet cancer, but they can turn into cancer over time. It is important to make sure these changes do not get worse.
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 caused by severe abnormal changes in the cells of the cervix. Most precancerous or cancerous cell changes occur in the cervix at the transformation zone, because these cells normally undergo constant change. During this natural process of change, some cervical cells can become abnormal if you are infected with high-risk types of HPV. Other things may play a role in causing cervical cancer, such as having more than one sex partner or smoking cigarettes.
Cervical cancer malignant cancer of the cervix uteris or cervical area. It may present with vaginal bleeding but symptoms may be absent until the cancer is in its advanced stages, which has made cervical cancer the focus of intense screening efforts using the Pap smear. About 2.2 percent of women carry one of the 2 virus strains most likely to lead to cervical cancer. One of the symptoms of Cervical Cancer is very Unusual amount of discharge.
The focus of this essay is on the process that takes place in the pathology laboratory, where the cervical samples are sent for cytological screening. A cervical cell sample that has no abnormal cells is categorised cytologically as being negative (negative for the presence of HPV or risk of cervical cancer). Alternatively, samples may be identified as containing borderline abnormal changes, or having dyskaryosis (Health and Social Care Information Centre, 2013). In some literature the terms dysplasia or CIN (cervical intraepithelial neoplasia) seem to be used in place of dyskaryosis (Eifel et al., 2011), but NHS literature seems to make most consistent reference to dyskaryosis. The extent of dyskaryosis is then classified across a range from
Incidence of cervical carcinoma cases was highest in the age group 51-60 years constituting 42.9% of total carcinoma cervix cases
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