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Cervical Cancer - For Womens Eyes Only!

By: Richard H Ealom INTRODUCTION: Cervical cancer is malignant cancer of the cervix uteri or cervical area. it is a carcinoma, typically composed of squamous cells, and is similar in some respects to squamous cell cancers of the head, neck and anus. Cervical cancers and cervical pre-cancers are classified by how they look under a microscope.

In developed countries, the broad use of cervical screening programs has reduced the incidence of invasive cancer of the cervix by 50 percent or more. Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is a necessary factor in the development of practically all cases of cervical cancer.

RISK: The primary risk factor in the development of this disease is infection with a high-risk strain of HPV. Females who have many sexual partners (or who have sex with men or women who have had many partners) have a larger risk. The American Cancer Society provides the following list of risk factors for this disease: human papillomavirus infection, smoking, HIV infection, chlamydia infection, dietary factors, hormonal contraception, multiple pregnancies, exposure to the hormonal drug DES and a history in the family of the disease.

Despite the development of an HPV innoculation, some researchers say that routine neonatal male circumcision is an acceptable way to decrease the risk of cervical cancer in their future female sexual partners. However, in men with low-risk sexual behaviour and monogamous female partners, circumcision makes no difference to the chances of developing the disease.

But having a risk factor, or even many, does not mean that you will acquire the disease. Several risk factors increase your odds of developing cervical cancer. Although these risk factors increase the chances of developing the disease, many women with these risks do NOT develop this condition. When a woman develops the cancer or pre-cancerous changes, it may not be possible to say with absolute certainty that a particular risk factor was the cause for the malignancy.

In thinking about risk factors, it helps to focus on those that you can change or avoid (like smoking or human papilloma virus infection), rather than those that you cannot (such as your age and family history).

SYMPTOMS: Symptoms of advanced cervical cancer may include: loss of appetite, weight loss, fatigue, pelvic pain, back pain, leg pain, single swollen leg, heavy bleeding from the vagina, leaking of urine from the vagina, and bone fractures. Also, moderate pain during sexual intercourse and vaginal discharge are symptoms of the disease. HPV infection can be present for years without any symptoms.

TYPES: There are 2 main types of cervical cancers: squamous cellcarcinoma and adenocarcinoma. Although almost all cervical cancers are either squamous cellcarcinomas or adenocarcinomas, other types of cancer also can start in the cervix. These other types, such as melanoma, sarcoma, and lymphoma, occur more commonly in other parts of the body.

Certain kinds of human papilloma virus are called "high-risk" types because they are often the cause of cancer of the cervix. More than 250 kinds of HPV are acknowledged to exist (some sources say more than 200 subtypes). Together, human papilloma virus types 16 and 18 currently cause about 70 percent of cases. HPV types 6 and 11 cause about 90% of genital wart infections. Different kinds of HPVs cause warts on different areas of the body. Some kinds cause common warts on the hands and feet. Other types tend to promote warts on the lips or tongue. Still other types of human papilloma virus may cause warts on or around the female and male genital organs and in the anal area.

TREATMENT: Treatment consists of surgery (including local excision) in the beginning stages and chemotherapy and radiotherapy in advanced stages of the disease. On June 15, 2006, the Food and Drug Administration approved the use of a combination of 2 chemotherapy drugs, hycamtin and cisplatin for women with late-stage (IVB) cervical malignancy.

Because of treatment, the 5-year relative survival rate for the earliest stage of invasive cancer of the cervix is 92 percent, and the overall (all stages combined) 5-year survival rate is about 72 percent. These statistics may be improved when applied to women recently diagnosed, bearing in mind that these outcome may be partly based on the state of treatment 5 years ago when the women studied were first diagnosed. With treatment, 80 to 90% of women with stage I cancer and 50 to 65 percent of those with stage II cancer are alive 5 years after diagnosis.

As the cancer metastasizes to other areas of the body, prognosis drops considerably because treatment of local lesions is often more effective than total body treatments such as chemotherapy. 35% of patients with invasive cancer of the cervix have persistent or recurrent disease after treatment. In the majority of cases however the body's immune system fights off the virus, and the infection goes away without any form of treatment.

CONCLUSION: The early stages of cervical cancer may be completely asymptomatic. Types 16 and 18 are generally acknowledged to cause about 70% of cases. Together with type 31, they are the prime risk factors for cancer of the cervix.

The medically approved paradigm, officially endorsed by the American Cancer Society and other organizations, is that a patient must have been infected with human papilloma virus to develop this type of cancer, and is hence viewed as sexually transmitted, but the majority women infected with high risk HPV will not develop the disease. There has not been any definitive proof to support the claim that male circumcision prevents cervical cancer, although some researchers say there is compelling epidemiological evidence that men who have been circumcised are less likely to have a human papilloma virus infection .

Even though the pap smear is an effective screening test, confirmation of the diagnosis of this disease or pre-cancer requires a biopsy of the cervix. According to the US National Cancer Institute's 2005 Health Information National Trends survey, only 40 percent of American women surveyed had heard of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and only 20% had heard of its link to cancer of the cervix.

In 2008 an estimated 3,870 women in the US will die of cancer of the cervix, and around 11,000 new cases are expected to be diagnosed. The American Cancer Society recommends that screening should begin approximately three years after the onset of vaginal intercourse and/or no later than twenty-one years of age.

The HPV test is a newer technique for cervical cancer triage which detects the presence of human papillomavirus infection in the cervix. Since more than 99% of invasive cervical cancers worldwide contain HPV, some researchers recommend that HPV testing be done together with routine cervical screening. HPV testing can reduce the incidence of grade 2 or 3 cervical intraepithelial neoplasia or cancer of the cervix detected by subsequent screening tests among women 32-38 years old according to a randomized controlled trial.

Figures suggest that cervical screening is saving 5,000 lives each year in the UK alone by preventing this disease. Worldwide, cancer of the cervix is the fifth most deadly cancer in women.

Article Source: http://www.lifeweightloss.com

About the author: Richard H. Ealom is an ezinearticles.com writer with more than 50 articles on Diseases,Causes,Cures. To find out more about Cervical Cancer visit Cancer Breakthrough USA! You have permission to use this article as long as this box is left unchanged.

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