All About Cervical Cancer

Not all incidents make news – some do. When Jade Goody, the international reality television star, died of cervical cancer a year back on 22nd of March, it made quite a news. Not because she had shot to fame for all the wrong reasons, or not because she died a public death, but her death made the world wake up to an issue that was long due – cervical cancer - the second most common malignancy and a leading cause of cancer-related death for women all across the world.

What is Cervical Cancer?

Cervical cancer is the cancer of outer opening of the uterus called cervix that's why it is also referred as cervix cancer. Cervix is actually the lower part of uterus that connects the upper vagina to uterus. At the time of childbirth, the cervix expands and allows the baby to move from uterus to vagina. The cervix is around two inches of length. Cervical cancer is known to affect mostly women aged between 50 to 55 years. All women who have active sexual lives are at a risk of contracting this disease.
Basically, two types of cells are found on the cervix surface namely- Squamous and Columnar. Cervical cancer generally develops from the squamous cells. It begins with the precancerous stage called dysplasia which can be easily detected by Pap smear. Dysplasia is absolutely curable with the help of medicines. Thus, it is important for ladies to have Pap smears on regular intervals.
If the precancerous changes are not detected on time, it can turn into cervical cancer spreading upto bladder, intestine, lungs and liver. It can also lead to ovarian cancer after a certain stage. Generally, one would not experience any problems until the cervix cancer has reached to advance stage.

Cervical Cancer Causes

Human Papilloma Virus or HPV infection is the causal factor of cervical cancer. It is a sexually transmitted disease (STD), which means it is transmitted through body fluid while having unprotected sex. Rubbing of the private parts can also cause it. Most people never even know that they have HPV while having regular sex, and transmit it to the partners (men mostly act as carriers). It is only after years that the symptoms start showing up, and one becomes aware of it, but often that is too late. So, the only way out is screening at regular intervals.

Cervical Cancer Symptoms

As mentioned earlier, signs of cervical cancer are not experienced until it has reached the advance level. The general symptoms of cervical cancer are mentioned as under:
-Painful urination
-Pelvic pain
-Unusual heavy discharge
-Abnormal bleeding during and/or after intercourse, and between regular menstrual periods.

Who are at the risk of Cervical Cancer?

-Women having sex with multiple partners
-Women having sex at an early age
-Women having multiple pregnancies
-Women using oral contraceptives for 5 continuous years or more
-Consumption of tobacco enhances the risk of infection.

How to test Cervical Cancer?

There are mainly three confirmatory tests for cervix cancer. Opt for any one of it to confirm cervical cancer.

-Pap Test

-Colposcopy Test

-HPV Test

Cervical Cancer Prevention

Big names in the pharmaceutical industry are coming up with vaccines for the disease. Consult your oncologist regarding taking the shots, because they have been proved to be quite effective in preventing the disease. Waiting to have sex until you are older can also help you avoid HPV. But the best preventive method is to use condoms while having sex.

Cervical Cancer Treatment

Of course, there are. Surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy or a combination of all three have been found to be effective in improving the survival chance of a cervical cancer patient, 'if' detected at an earlier stage. However, supportive care is available to relieve the side effects of treatment, and to control pain at any stage of the disease.

Cervical Cancer in India

In India, cervical cancer is the commonest form of cancer, "followed" by breast cancer. For more than last 30 years now there has been a constant campaigning against this killer disease, but this has had little impact on the death rate in the country. Today, India ranks fourth worldwide in terms of mortality from cervical cancer. According to a recent study, the mortality is further estimated to rise to 79,000 by 2010.