Cervical cancer is the severity attacking the cervix, the lowest part of the uterus...
Cervical cancer is the severity attacking the cervix, the lowest part of the uterus protruding into the vagina, the 'entrance' of women' s genital. The mutation of the normal cervical cells into the cancer cells requires 10-20 years, so there is plenty of time to detect and prevent this disease.
Every woman, either young, mature with sexual experience, or sexually active, has the risk of cervical cancer. This risk will increase due to a number of factors, such as being married, early sexual intercourse (< 20 years old), frequent pregnancy, multiple sexual partners, and smoking habit. It is acknowledged that approximately 99.7% of cervical cancer cases are caused by the infection of high-risk type Human Papillomavirus (HPV).
Commonly, there is no symptom in the early stage of cervical cancer. As it develops, it will show some symptoms such as vaginal bleeding, abnormal vaginal discharge (mixed with blood and foul smelling), pelvic pain, and difficult urination. Regrettably, when the symptoms emerge, the possibility of recovery has dropped to minuscule. Meanwhile, if detected during the early stage, there is a high possibility of recovery.
Although without symptoms, the initial stage of cervical cancer can be detected through regular screenings (having a test without waiting for any symptom to appear). Several methods of cervical cancer screenings known so far are:
- Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid (VIA)
This is the simplest, fastest, and cheapest screening for cervical cancer. This examination is conducted by smearing 3-5% acetic acid solution to the cervix. Within 10 minutes, if the smear changes in color, showing some white patches for instance, there might be abnormalities in the cervical cells. Unfortunately, this method has lower sensitivity and specificity than other screening methods for cervical cancer.
- Cytologic Evaluation (Pap Smear)
Pap smear is the test to inspect the morphological change (in form and function) of the cervical cells by the technique of Papanicolaou stain, to then be put under a microscope. The test sample for Pap smear is taken from the vaginal opening. There are 2 kinds of Pap smear, namely conventional pap smear and liquid-based cytology (LBC).
LBC is a new method to improve the accuracy of the detection of the abnormal cervical cells. In this method, the sample is put into a specific liquid to separate the cells from other distracting factors prior to being put under the microscope. By then, the examined object will be clearer and the microscopic view will be more accurate, so that any abnormalities in the cervical cell, however little they are, can be detected more easily.
- HPV-DNA Test
The HPV-DNA test is a molecular examination to directly find out if there is HPV in the cells taken from the cervix. High-risk type HPVs, which include type 16, 18, 31, 33, 39, 45, 51, 52, 56, 58, 59, and 68, are known to be the leading cause of cervical cancer. That is why in 2003 the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the use of the HPV-DNA test along with the Pap smear as a primary screening of cervix on women, especially at an age above 30 years old.
The word 'cancer' sounds scary, indeed. However, if such a scary thing can be prevented, why don' t we ward it off? Have the regular screening for the early detection of the cervical cancer. The earlier the detection, the higher the chance to get cured.