What Is Cervical Cancer?
Cervical cancer is the cancer type occurring in the cells of cervix (the cervix is the lower portion of uterus i.e. the region that connects the uterus with the vagina). What are the causes of cervical cancer? Till date, no medical study has clearly spoken about the actual cause of cervical cancer. But, what most medical experts are sure is that this cancer type is directly linked with infection caused by HPV or human papillomavirus. However, being infected by HPV does not mean that you will inevitably suffer from cervical cancer; majority of the women infected by this virus do not develop cervical cancer. Whether or not the human papillomavirus will cause cervical cancer depends on some other factors like the lifestyle choices of the woman, her genetic makeup, the environment etc.
Depending on the cell type experiencing the first genetic mutation, cervical cancer is categorized into two types, squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma. The squamous cell carcinomas start from the flat and thin cells forming the lining of the cervix's bottom. Most cases of cervical cancer are squamous cell carcinomas. Adenocarcinoma affects the patient's glandular cells i.e. the cells forming the lining of cervical canal. Adenocarcinoma does not occur as frequently as squamous cell carcinoma. The doctors find out the cervical cancer type one is suffering from for determining the patient's prognosis and the right mode of treatment.
What are the signs and symptoms of cervical cancer? Patients may or may not experience signs of cervical cancer. Usually, cervical cancer does not trigger any symptom during its early stages. The patient starts experiencing symptoms with the progression of the cancer. The changes that a patient with this cancer type is likely to experience are:
- Abnormal vaginal bleeding i.e. bleeding between periods, after menopause or after having intercourse
- Severe pelvic pain while having intercourse
- Bloody, water vaginal discharge, which might be dense and possess foul odor
Due to absence of symptoms in its early stages, most cases of cervical cancer get diagnosed when the disease has already reached its later stages. This results in poor prognosis of cervical cancer. However, detection of this cancer type at an early stage can increase the survival rate significantly. To detect cervical cancer at an early stage, women should start going for yearly screening from the age of 21 years. Cervical cancer screening is done using procedures like Pap test and HPV DNA test. These tests help in identifying precancerous changes in a woman's cervix, based on which the doctors prescribe necessary treatment.
The Final Stages of Cervical Cancer
Diagnosis of cervical cancer is followed by staging of the disease. The process of staging cancer involves identifying how much the cancer has spread and the size of tumors. Based on which stage of cancer a patient is in, the doctor chooses the treatment methods suitable for her and also determines the prognosis of the disease. In this article, we’ll be discussing about the final stages of cervical cancer i.e. stages IIIA, IIIB, IVA and IVB.
Stage IIIA: In this stage the cancer invades the lower part of the patient’s vagina; however, still it does not affect the pelvic walls. Stage IIIA cervical cancer also does not reach the patient’s lymph nodes or any or her distant organs. According to statistics, 5 year survival rate of patients in this stage of the disease is 35%.
Stage IIIB: [...]
Cervical Cancer Screening Guidelines
Cervical cancer is the cancer originating from the cells of a woman’s cervix. As the initial stages of this cancer does not show any significant symptom, majority of the cervical cancer cases are diagnosed when the patient has already reaches advanced stage of the disease. This makes the prognosis of cervical cancer extremely poor. The only way of detecting cervical cancer is by going for regular screenings. Below we have presented some important cervical cancer screening guidelines:
Cervical cancer screening is mostly done using the procedure called Pap test or Pap smear. During this test, the cells of a woman’s cervix (the region forming the intersection of vagina and uterus of a woman) are examined. This test can successfully identify precancerous abnormalities and cancer in the [...]
Cervical Cancer Management and Prevention: Information on Useful Vitamins
The vitamins helping in management and prevention of cervical cancer are:
Vitamin A: This fat soluble vitamin works by improving the functioning of the immune system of women and protects their cervix from the free radicals. Free radicals are the primary factors leading to formation of cancerous and precancerous cells in the cervical region. Vitamin A is not only helpful in preventing the occurrence of cervical cancer, but also possesses the ability of reducing severity of this cancer type. Consumption of vitamin A is also necessary for repairing of the cervical tissues that are already damaged due to cancer. Common symptoms of cervical cancer like back pain, decrease of appetite, fatigue, abnormal bleeding are also controlled significantly by vitamin A. This vitamin is also beneficial in [...]
Cervical Cancer during Pregnancy: How to Cope with the Condition?
Have you been diagnosed with cervical cancer during your pregnancy? If yes, then this article will educate you about ways of coping with cervical cancer during pregnancy.
Contact the medical team in your locality: Women diagnosed with cervical cancer while being pregnant need to take a number of extremely difficult decisions. These decisions are generally absolutely personal to the would-be parents; however, they must seek guidance from support team. If you delay the decision, your treatment will also be delayed. However, sometimes decision making needs to be delayed depending on factors like: which stage of pregnancy the women with cervical cancer is in, the age of the patient, personal beliefs, family input etc. The support team for cervical cancer patients generally consists of a pathologist, [...]
Cervical Cancer Test – Proactively Get Screened this January
Cervical cancer garners the second position as the highly prevalent cancer among females across the globe. However, there are measures that all women could easily adopt for protecting themselves from the disease.
Pap smear test is the key cervical cancer test that helps in identifying as well as preventing the disease. Cervical cancer mostly fails to cause symptoms & getting screened on a regular basis has assisted in reducing number of mortalities due to the disease.
Once cervical cancer starts developing, cells in the cervical region become irregular & show irrepressible growth. The cancer could even metastasize (spread) to other regions of the body. However when abnormality in cells are spotted sooner – which is mostly possible via cervical cancer screening plan, its prevention [...]
Cervical Cancer Test – Cheaper, Effective Cobas Test Shows Potential
Drastic enhancement in cervical cancer testing can be a major life-saviour for scores of females.
The novel cervical cancer test provides outcome over-night & has accuracy far surpassing that of pap smear testing presently followed for spotting preliminary indications of cervical cancer, as per the study scientists.
Costing merely fifteen pounds an instant, the cervical cancer test can be procured in general practitioners hospitals within a years’ time.
This advancement pursues studies conducted by researchers from Britain & the United States on thousand-plus females.
Another plus point of the new-fangled cervical cancer test is that a patient might require undergoing screening merely in 5-yearly time intervals as compared to 3-yearly intervals.
Scientists aver that [...]
American Cancer Society Advice for Earlier Cervical Cancer Detection
Nearly all (over ninety-nine percent) of cervical cancer cases are linked to the human papilloma virus (HPV). From them, nearly seventy percent of them arise due HPV forms 16/18. Around 500000 pre-cancerous cell alterations of the cervical, vulval and vaginal regions are identified annually in the U.S. & over fifty percent of them linked to these two HPV types. Low grading alteration of cells in the cervical region arise due to an array of HPV forms, inclusive of 6, 11, 18, 16 and mostly self-settling sans therapy, though in case they develop into wart formations physicians might excise them. However low grading alterations might be arising due to several high and even low risk forms of HPV & physicians who spot low grading alterations mostly do further testing.
Almost all cervical [...]
What Options Are Available For Cervical Cancer Treatment?
The specific method of cervical cancer treatment that many individuals and specialized physicians consider to be the most beneficial and effective for the patient can vary a great deal. This type of determination is based on a variety of different factors. These factors would include the age of the patient, the basic condition of her health, the size of the tumor that is involved, the stage that the cervical cancer is in, and whether or not the cancer has spread to other parts of the woman’s body. Depending on what the woman’s age may be treatment options that are suggested may also be based on a woman’s desire to maintain the ability to have children after the treatment has been completed. This consideration is taken very seriously in cases of cervical cancer, especially when it involves [...]
What Are Cervical Cancer Causes?
Although there are no specific cervical cancer causes known there are several factors that may put a woman at an increased risk of developing cervical cancer at some point in her lifetime. The more risk factors that are present the greater the risk of developing cervical cancer.
Two of the most common factors that increase the risk of cervical cancer are medical history and lifestyle particularly sexual proclivities. Human papillomavirus or HPV is a sexually transmitted virus that is thought to seriously increase the risk of developing cervical cancer. This virus is known to infect the genitals, genital tract and area surrounding the anus however not all types of this virus are dangerous and there is now a vaccine to protect against some types of HPV.
There are several factors in relation [...]
What Are The Cervical Cancer Stages?
There are five basic categories of cervical cancer stages. Some of these categories are further divided into separate sub levels in order to further classify how each level of each stage of cancer is determined. These stages go from 0-IV from the lowest or earliest stage to the highest or most advanced stage.
Stage 0
In this stage of cervical cancer, cells are only on the surface of the cervix and have not infected deeper tissues. This is the earliest stage of cervical cancer and is often commonly referred to as carcinoma in situ.
Stage I
This stage is divided into two sub levels which are also divided into additional sub levels. Each sub level indicates new developments in relation to the cervical cancer in question. In this stage the cancer cells have infected the cervix but have not [...]
How Will I Know the Signs of Cervical Cancer?
Signs of cervical cancer are not always present. This is especially true of the earliest stages. This is because changes in the cervical cells or abnormalities of these cells in most cases do not produce any symptoms.
Not all cell abnormalities or changes will lead to cervical cancer however if these abnormal cells also known as dysplasia are left untreated for extended periods of times they can turn cancerous. After turning cancerous they can spread beyond the cervix into other areas of the body making treatment much more difficult. In some cases cells affected by dysplasia may turn back to normal cells without any form of treatment however it is best to let a doctor determine the chances of this happening.
In order to detect abnormal cell growth and formation it is recommended that [...]
What Are The Symptoms of Cervical Cancer?
Cervical cancer is developed in a woman’s reproductive organs. This particular area is known as the cervix. This happens when cells grow at an abnormal rate and continue to grow at an uncontrollable rate. This excessive production of cells can lead to the growth of a mass or tumor. Not all cervical tumors are cancerous therefore it may be necessary for your doctor to perform a biopsy in which part of the tumor is extracted in order to determine what treatment will be most effective.
One very important thing is to know the symptoms of cervical cancer. This will be very beneficial in detection of the disease. In some cases however there are no symptoms present with the early development of cervical cancer. In these cases it becomes even more important for a woman to have regular exams known [...]
Cervical Cancer – Potent Merger of Medication and Radiotherapy Enhances Survival Prospects
Survival prospects of women who receive merger of medication and radiotherapy enhances survival prospects in cervical cancer treatment. The investigators from Cochrane concluded after performing the largely wide-ranging study of the outcomes of coalescing drugs along with radiotherapy for treating cervical cancer.
Women across the globe have been inflicted with cervical cancer, making it the second widespread type of cancer that affects females. Cervical cancer treatments have transformed manifestly over the span of the previous ten years as a consequence of the parameters laid down by NCI or National Cancer Institute a decade back stating that chemoradiotherapy must be deemed as a substitute for radiotherapy.
Chemoradiotherapy merges chemotherapy (therapy employing cancer-combatant drugs) [...]
Cervical Cancer Prevention – Gardasil And Cervarix Inoculations For Combating HPV Infection
Prelude
HPV or Human Papillomavirus virus are presently widely obtainable for preventing Cervical Cancer. The Quadrivalent vaccine – Gardasil and the bivalent vaccine – Cervarix have received FDA approval for this reason.
Broad-spectrum Information
The Human Papilloma Virus (high-risk genetic makeup) is an indispensable underlying factor of cervical cancers.
The HPV vaccine is a preventative vaccine with the duo, namely: bivalent and the quadrivalent vaccine offering safeguard against HPV infection (HPV genotypes 16 and 18) that constitute nearly seventy percent of HPV-linked cervical cancers. The quadrivalent vaccine additionally defends against HPV genotypes 6 and 11 which are accountable for nearly ninety percent of the genital warts.
The HPV vaccine is not remedial and does [...]
