Hard to understand cervical cancer stages!

I have read about cervical cancer from some referrence for a while but i think it is still hard to understand cervical cancer stage. Although FIGO system just classified cervical cancer into 4 stage, but i dont know why i feel so hard to memorize all of cervical cancer stages.

Maybe i am frustating to understand about it, but i am still try to learn other subject. I wanna learn cervical cancer risk factors first before learning cervical cancer staging system. Learning risk factor is more easy because some factor can be found in daily life, such as smoking.

Oops,,,it is time to entering lecture. Let me discuss about cervical cancer after this lecture. See you again..

All Women at risk of cervical cancer

Chairman of the Education Indonesian Cancer Foundation (YKI), Sumaryati Arjoso said, YKI receive reports from 13 hospitals in Indonesia and the average cervical cancer was ranked first. 13”hospital that the average cervical cancer was ranked first in the group of diseases of cancer,’’said Sumaryati during a seminar “The Risk of Cervical Cancer” in Jakarta on Tuesday (26 / 5).

Sumaryati the data that describes the data is not yet public in general. According to her, could be different if data collection is done in Indonesia. Because of fact, many women are reluctant to self-examined so that it has not been detected.

This type of cancer, according to Tofan Widya Utami, Gynekology Specialist  Department Obstetri and Gynecology Faculty of Medicine, University of Indonesia, at risk of attack every woman in his life regardless of age and lifestyle. According to him, every woman at risk for cervical cancer almost does not show symptoms early. However, it can develop into cervical cancer after a few years. Since starting the womb neck fell ill virus, Tofan clear, take the short three years, but can also 10 to 20 years to change into cervical cancer.

In a study the National Cancer Institute Monograph in 2005, 80 percent of women will be infected with HPV at the time of his life. And 50 percent of those already infected by HPV virus causes cervical cancer. Most of cervical cancer is caused by the Human Papiloma Virus (HPV). “99.7 percent of cervical cancer cases were caused by HPV infection,’’said Tofan.

HPV has many types. However, the cause cervical cancer is HPV type 16, 18, 45, 31 and 52. HPV 16 and 18 detected as the main cause of 70 percent serviks cases in Indonesia. From a number of cancer cases serviks in Indonesia, 44 percent disumbang by HPV types 16, 39 percent by HPV Types 18 and 14 percent are caused by HPV type 52.

While the system is very slow human immunity against HPV. It takes time”12 to 18 months for the body’s immune system to fight HPV. Be very slow,’’said Tofan.

9 cervical cancer risk factor

Today, I’m going to share some of cervical cancer risk factors. They are many that it will not be possible for us to discuss of all cervical cancer risk factor, but let us see how far we can share about risk factor of cervical cancer.

1) HUMAN PAPILLUM VIRUS INFECTION (HPV): This is the most important of all the risk factors associated to the cervical cancer. Doctors believe that before a woman can develop cervical cancer, she probably have been infected by HPV. Some types of this HPV are classified as “high risk” because they are the primary causes of cervical cancer. These types include HPV 6, HPV 18, HPV 31, HPV 35, and HPV 45 and many other. About two-thirds of all cervical cancers are caused by HPV 16-18.

2) SMOKING: Women who smoke are more likely to get cervical cancer than women who don’t smoke. Smoking exposes the body to many cancer-causing chemicals that affects not only the lungs, but other parts of the body. The lungs will first of all, absorb these harmful substances, and later transfer it into the blood stream throughout the body. The by-products of tobacco have been found in the cervical mucus of women who smoke. These substances damage the gene of the cervical cells and may equally lead to the development of cervical cancer.

3) IMMUNOSUPPRESSION: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is the virus that causes AIDS. This virus damages the immune system of the body completely and makes women to be more at risk for HPV infection. This is one of the causes of increased risk of cervical cancer in women with AIDS. The immune system is very important in destroying cervical cancer cells, and slowing down their growth and spread. A cervical pre-cancer, which known as cervical intraepithelial neoplasma, is likely to develop into an invasive cervical cancer faster in women with HIV.

4) CHLAMYDIA INFECTION: This is a very common microbacterium that can infect cervical part of the uteri. The spread is mainly through sexual contact. Women whose blood tests show past or present Chlamydia infection are at a higher risk of cervical cancer, as against women who did not infected by chlamydia. This type of infection often shows no symptoms in women. Unless a woman goes for the examination of her pelvic region, she may not know that she is infected of Chlamydia. When this stays long in the body, it leads to pelvic inflammation, which also leads to infertility, maybe also cervical cancer risk factors.

5) LOW FIBER DIETS: Diets low in fruits and vegetables can increase the risk of cervical cancer. Also, obesity can equally lead to cervical cancer.

6) CONTRACEPTION PILLS: The usage of oral contraception pills for a long time increases the risk of cervical cancer in women. The longer these pills are used, the risk goes up, and goes down after it is stopped.

7) MULTIPLE PREGNANCIES: Women with many full time pregnancies have an increased risk of the cervical cancer. This may be because some of these women may have been exposed to unprotected sexual activity which have therefore exposed them to HPV infection. This is because the immune system of the pregnant woman is weak, which allows for HPV infection and also cervical cancer growth.

LOW SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS: Many women with low income don’t have access to adequate health care services, including pap smear, and the implication of this is that they will not be get cervical cancer prevention and screening programs.

9) FAMILY HISTORY: Cervical cancer runs hereditary in some families. If your mother or sister has cervical cancer, your risk of developing cervical cancer is higher. Women from the same family as a patient already diagnosed of cervical cancer may be more likely to have one or more of the other non-genetic risk factors previously described in this section.

I will love to hear what are your own views or opinions about cervical cancer risk factor.

Cervical cancer prevention focus on vaccination

The cost-effectiveness of vaccination in the United States against human papillomavirus (HPV), a sexually-transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer, will be optimized by ccomplishing accepted vaccine advantage in young adolescent girls, by targeting initial “catch-up” efforts to vaccinate women younger than 21 years of age, and by revising current screening policies, as per an analysis by Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) scientists in the August 21, 2008 issue of The New England Journal (NEJM).

In the U.S. in 2007, cervical cancer developed in more than 11,000 women and killed 3,600 women. Cervical cancer is caused by infection with high-risk “oncogenic” types of HPV, also linked to other cancers. Worldwide, HPV types 16 (HPV-16) and 18 (HPV-18) cause approximately 70% of cervical cancer cases. Vaccines against HPV-16 and HPV-18 appear to be highly efficacious in preventing HPV-16 and HPV-18 infections and cervical cancer symptoms in females who have not previously been infected with these types. “Research has shown that the vaccination is more effective in girls nine to 15 than older age groups.” Girls aged 18 and 19 were eligible for free vaccination from September last year, and the cervical cancer prevention programme was extended to girls as young as 12 in January. Based on this study, cervical cancer prevention must focus on vaccination!

Cervical Cancer Symptoms

Can you mention what cervical cancer symptoms are? The symptoms of cervical cancer could be pain in the pelvic or unusual bleeding through the vagina. However, the symptoms could be detected during the final stage. This is because it takes even years for the normal cells to turn into cancerous ones. But, pain or bleeding during sex or otherwise, vaginal discharge are some signs; but they do not mean you have cervical cancer. It is better if you see a doctor who will ask you to go for a Pap test.

The pap test is usually accurate and can be used to detect cervical cancers even in the early stages. To increase the reliability of the Pap test, go to your doctor two weeks after your last menstrual period and avoid having sex, douching, using tampons or using vaginal creams,powders, suppositories, sprays etc  at least 48 hours before the test.

An abnormal Pap smear report DOES NOT mean that you have cervical cancer. It just means that you have some kind of cellular change in the cells that cover the surface of the cervix.  A Pap test is only a screening medium,  there are other tests that are important to confirm Pap test abnormalities and diagnose the disease.  You need to have some kind of follow-up, retest again after some months. Depending on the degree of the abnormality,  the  doctor can also recommend biopsy, colposcopy (enlarged view of the vagina and cervix) or curettage.

Cervical Cancer Prevention Awareness Month

THE month of May in Philippines is Cervical Cancer Prevention Awareness Month. This Month Marks the Cervical Cancer Prevention Awareness where different health organizations manage to conduct proper information on how to prevent cervical cancer the second leading cause of death among women.Cervical cancer develops from Human Papilloma virus (HPV) which can be transmitted through sexual intercourse. At an early stage, no symptoms can be found. Unusual sexual behaviors can also lead to have this disease. The most common symptoms are unusual bleeding from the vagina at any time as well as the unpleasant vaginal discharge. Women should be aware of this disease instead of finding it out soon, have yourself vaccinated, early detection is better than to suffer soon.

Today, there are ways on how to prevent cervical cancer. A cervical cancer screening can save a woman’s life. This is the aim of the Cervical Cancer Prevention Awareness Month, for every Filipino to be aware that there are ways to prevent cervical cancer, from early screening, healthy lifestyle, to the latest development of new vaccines.

Thus, this month of May, many centers of health are conducting free cervical cancer screening and open forum which women should avail of.

Definitions of cervical cancer

I found some definitions of cervical cancer from a lot of resources

Cancer.gov define cervical cancer as cancer that forms in tissues of the cervix (the organ connecting the uterus and vagina). It is usually a slow-growing cancer that may not have symptoms but can be found with regular Pap tests (a procedure in which cells are scraped from the cervix and looked at under a microscope).

I also found other definitions from thefreedictionary.com. That site describe that cervical cancer is a disease in which the cells of the cervix become abnormal and start to grow uncontrollably, forming tumors.

Medterms define cervical cancer as cancer of the entrance to the womb (uterus). The cervix is the lower, narrow part of the uterus (womb). The uterus, a hollow, pear-shaped organ, is located in a woman’s lower abdomen, between the bladder and the rectum. The cervix forms a canal that opens into the vagina, which leads to the outside of the body.