Cervical Cancer Screenings Soar
Monday 23rd March 2009
Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in women under 35 but the vast majority of cases still occur in older women.
Around 3,000 women are diagnosed with the disease each year in the UK and the prognosis is good if it is caught early. In addition, around 24,000 women will get smear test results each year showing severely abnormal changes to the cells of their cervix, indicating the likelihood of cancer in the future unless treatment is given.
Tests carried out
Signs of cervical cancer can be picked up through smear tests, or the woman may experience symptoms such as bleeding between periods, after or during sex; or pain or discomfort after or during sex.
A woman is likely to undergo a colposcopy, where the doctor uses a large magnifying glass to examine the covering of the cervix, as part of the process of diagnosing the disease.
The doctor will probably also take a biopsy, where a sample of tissue is removed for closer examination by trained professionals in the laboratory.
Once a diagnosis has been made, doctors will be able to tell the woman how advanced her cancer is.
Stage 0 is when some of the cells look cancerous but are contained within the skin covering the cervix. Stage 1 is where the cancer is just in the neck of the womb and stage 2 is where the cancer has begun to spread around the neck of the womb. Stage 3 refers to when the cancer has spread into the pelvis and stage 4 is when the cancer has spread to other body organs. The prognosis is good if the cancer is caught early but poor if the woman is diagnosed with advanced cancer which cannot be cured.
Treatment
Early cervical cancer can be treated with surgery, which may involve removing part of the cervix or the entire womb, radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
For some very early, small cervical cancers, it may be possible to treat the cancer with a cone biopsy, where the affected tissue is removed under general anaesthetic. Most cases of cervical cancer are caused by the sexually transmitted infection, human papillomavirus (HPV).
UK-wide vaccination
The Government approved a UK-wide vaccination programme of girls aged 12 and 13 to protect against HPV, which started in September 2008.
A catch-up programme for girls up to the age of 18 has also been set up using the vaccine Cervarix.
Smoking
Women who smoke are more likely to develop a type of cervical cancer called squamous cell cervical cancer. Researchers have found cancer-causing chemicals from cigarette smoke called benzyrene in the cervical mucus of women who smoke.
According to Cancer Research UK, women who smoke and have a ''high risk'' type of HPV infection are twice as likely to get cervical cancer.
Women with a weakened immune system, including those who have a poor diet, also have a higher risk of many cancers, including cervical cancer.
Some studies have suggested that women who take the Pill have a higher risk of cervical cancer, although more research is needed into the area.
Around eight in 100,000 women get the disease each year in the UK and studies suggest that women who have taken the Pill for at least five years have double the risk.
