What Do You Know About Cervical Cancer?
According to the American Cancer Society (ACS), more than 4,220 American women will die from cervical cancer in 2012. But death rates have declined dramatically over the last 50 years because more women are being screened. To learn more about cervical cancer and prevention, take this quiz, based on information from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the ACS.
3. Which of these are risk factors for the cancer?
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All of these put women at greater risk of developing
cervical cancer. Women who smoke are about twice as likely as nonsmokers to get cervical cancer. The more cigarettes smoked or the longer a woman smokes, the greater her risk. HPV is a virus that causes
genital warts. It is also the main cause of cervical cancer. Women with HPV or whose partners have HPV have a higher risk for cervical cancer. Sexual history is another important risk factor for cervical cancer. A woman or man with many sexual partners is more at risk for picking up a sexually transmitted virus like HPV. Women are also at greater risk for cervical cancer if they have many sexual partners, or if their male partners have had many sexual partners. The virus that causes
AIDS damages the body's immune system and puts women more at risk for HPV infections. These may increase the risk for
cervical cancer.
5. What are the symptoms of cervical cancer in the early stages?
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Usually, by the time symptoms develop, the cancer has already become advanced. Abnormal vaginal bleeding, pain in the pelvic area, or loss of appetite may indicate the cancer has reached nearby tissue.
6. Which of these tests effectively screens for cervical cancer?
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The Pap test looks for any changes in the cells that make up your cervix. The test can detect whether you have changes that may be caused by an infection. It can also find abnormal cells that may progress to cancer. It can find cervical cancer, too. The Pap test takes only a few minutes. Your health care provider will put an instrument called a speculum into your vagina. He or she will use a brush or swab to take a few cells from the cervix. For most women, the test is painless, although some feel discomfort. A laboratory looks at the cells to see if they are healthy. The best time for a Pap test is 12 to 14 days after the beginning of the last menstrual period. A pelvic exam is usually done at the same time as the Pap test, and an HPV test may also be done at the same time. In a pelvic exam, a health care provider checks the uterus and ovaries.
10. A woman who has had a hysterectomy needs to continue getting a regular Pap test if:
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In the first two cases, regular Pap tests are essential to make sure that the cervical cancer, or uterine or ovarian cancers have not come back (recurred), according to the ACS. If the cervix was not removed in the hysterectomy, a woman needs regular Pap tests because there is still a chance that she could develop cervical cancer. If a woman has a hysterectomy to treat precancerous changes in the cervix, she should continue to have a Pap test, according to ACS guidelines.
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