Cervical cancer is cancer of the cervix -- the opening of the uterus, extending into the upper end of the vagina. Cervical cancer was once one of the most common causes of cancer death for American women.
With the advent of widespread screening by a vaginal smear test developed by George Papanicolaou in the 1950s (commonly known as the "Pap smear"), the number of deaths from cervical cancer has dramatically fallen -- from more than 35,000 per year to fewer than 5,000 per year today -- attesting to its utility as a screening test. Even with the Pap smear, the American Cancer Society estimates that there are approximately 13,000 new cases of invasive cervical cancer diagnosed in the United States each year.
Cervical cancer usually grows slowly over many years. Before true cancer cells develop, the tissues of the cervix undergo changes -- called dysplasia, or precancers -- that a pathologist can detect in a Pap smear. These changes range from mild dysplasia or cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN1) to moderate (CIN2) to high-grade lesions (CIN3). They can also resemble cancer cells without invasion, also known as carcinoma in situ.
If left untreated, these precancers have the propensity to invade and become cancerous. Once they spread beyond the borders of the cervix, they can invade tissues more deeply, into either the vagina or the uterus, and ultimately metastasize to other parts of the body.
Cervical Cancer Symptoms - Symptoms of Cervical Cancer
There are often no symptoms with early stages of cervical cancer. Therefore, beginning at age 18 (or when first sexually active), women should receive annual Pap smears to detect pre-cancerous or cancerous cervical cells. The following symptoms may be associated with cervical cancer and should be reported to a physician for further investigation. However, these symptoms can indicate a number of conditions other than cervical cancer.
Symptoms that may be associated with cervical cancer include:
- Unusual vaginal discharge (include spot/light bleeding between menstrual periods)
- Bleeding after sexual intercourse
- Pain during sexual intercourse
Source: Imaginis
Cervical Cancer Symptoms - Types of Cervical Cancer
There are two main types of cervical cancer:
- The majority of cervical cancers -- 85 to 90 percent -- are squamous cell carcinomas.
- The remaining 10 to 15 percent of cervical cancers are adenocarcinomas.
Cancers that have features of both cell types are known as mixed or adenosquamous carcinomas.
Cervical Cancer Symptoms - Risk Factors
The most significant risk factor for cervical cancer is infection with the human papillomavirus (HPV), which can be transmitted during sex. Since the 1980s, HPV has been known to cause cervical dysplasia.
By avoiding the following known risk factors for HPV infection, women can reduce their likelihood of developing cervical cancer:
- early age at first sexual intercourse (15 years or younger)
- having a history of many sexual partners (more than seven)
- smoking (which produces chemicals that can damage cervical cells, making them more vulnerable to infection and cancer)
- infection with HIV (which reduces the body's ability to fight off HPV infection and early cancers)
Women without these risk factors rarely develop cervical cancer. Although all women can help protect themselves from disease by having their sexual partners use condoms, condoms do not provide complete protection from HPV infection because this virus (unlike HIV) can be spread by contact with any infected area of the body.
The Pap test can detect HPV infection and precancers years before the development of cervical cancer. Treatment of these conditions can halt invasive cancer literally before it starts. The American Cancer Society recommends that all women begin yearly Pap tests at age 18 (or earlier, if they become sexually active).
Researchers at the National Cancer Institute and elsewhere are studying how HPVs cause precancerous changes in normal cells, and how these changes can be prevented. They are using HPVs grown in the laboratory to find ways to prevent the infection and its associated disease and to create vaccines against the viruses. Vaccines for certain papillomaviruses, such as HPV-16 and HPV-18, are being studied in clinical trials for cervical cancer; similar trials for other types of cancer are planned.
Source: Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Cervical Cancer Symptoms - Alternative Names
Cancer of the Cervix, Cervix Cancer, Cancer of the Uterine Cervix, Cervical Carcinoma
Cervical Cancer Symptoms - Common Misspellings
Cervixal Cancer, Cervicial Cancer, Cervical Cancar, Curvical Cancer
