Since the latter part of the 20 th century cervical cancer has been a major threat to women around the world. It is an ailment which affects the cells of the cervix, which is the area between the uterus and the vagina. The condition is mostly caused by human papillomavirus (hrHPV) infection which is transmitted through sexual intercourse ( Potter et al., 2015 ). The WHO ranks cervical cancer among the four most ferocious cancers affecting females. There were approximately 570,000 novel cases of the condition in 2018. This figure is 6.6% of the disease’s incidences that occurs in women. In the US, cervical cancer ranks 14th according to NIH Fact sheet as of 2018. This situation arises since screenings such as pap smears are used to diagnose cervical cancer early enough and treat it before it advances or develops into unmanageable levels.
Cancer screening should come every 3 years as per the stipulations of The United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF). It advocates for the use of cytology (by pap smear) as the sole method in women between 21 to 29 years. It also advises that the same pattern should be followed every 5 years for women 30-65 years. This group should combine cytology and hrHPV diagnosis, a method called co-testing ( Cuzick, Bergeron, von Knebel Doeberitz, Gravitt, Jeronimo, Lorincz, & Szarewski, 2012 ). This consideration comes since cervical cancer mostly occur in midlife and is mostly detected in women of ages between 35 and 44. The American Cancer Society indicates that Cervical cancer seldom affects females who are 20 years and younger.
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USPSTF advises that there is no need testing cervical cancer in females younger than 21. For those women who have not yet hit 30, the use of HPV testing and cytology alone may not give a clear result of whether they have cervical cancer ( Lyng, Traynor, Ramos, Bonnier, & Byrne, 2015 ). USPSTF also disapproves the screening for cervical cancer in females with 65 years and above who have undergone several screening sessions do not have to test again. Similalrly, those individuals who have had certain surgeries such as removal of cervix and hysterectomy should not screen for cervical cancer. The same case applies for females without a past of malignant lesion or other cancer symptoms.
Several factors in a female’s environment that cause cervical cancer. These risk conditions increase the likelihood of getting the disease. According to most studies, HPV infection, history of cervical cancer in the family, smoking, obesity, long-period use of oral contraceptives, poor diet, chlamydia infection, weakened immune system and long term use of intrauterine device (IUD) are some of the conditions associated with cervical cancer in females (Lyng et al., 2015). Among these, HPV infection is the top reason for cervical cancer in women.
In cancer screening, a risk assessment may help determine the cause of cervical cancer or the chances that a person is exposed to the risk factors. The risk assessment is conducted with the use of a series of questions based on cervical cancer risk factors (Potter et al., 2015). This will include questions whether the person has had sexual intercourse, whether they have had Pap test, family history of cervical cancer, whether they are smoking or were smoking, their general diet, use of oral contraceptives and any queries related to other cancer risk factors.
The correct procedure is to do a cervical cancer testing using the sole method of cervical cytology, primary hrHPV testing, or co-testing. Over the past years, screening women between 21 to 65 years have significantly reduced cervical cancer cases and deaths in the US. The NIH Fact Sheet reports that the recent data (2003 through 2007), the incidence rate of the disease was 8.1 for every 100,000 females annually in the US, while the fatality ratio was 2.4 deaths per 100,000. Therefore, when cervical screening procedures are applied correctly, there is a guarantee that the rate of cervical cancer in females will continue to decrease drastically.
References
Cuzick, J., Bergeron, C., von Knebel Doeberitz, M., Gravitt, P., Jeronimo, J., Lorincz, A. T., ... & Szarewski, A. (2012). New technologies and procedures for cervical cancer screening. Vaccine , 30 , F107-F116.
Lyng, F. M., Traynor, D., Ramos, I. R., Bonnier, F., & Byrne, H. J. (2015). Raman spectroscopy for screening and diagnosis of cervical cancer. Analytical and bioanalytical chemistry , 407 (27), 8279-8289.
Potter, J., Peitzmeier, S. M., Bernstein, I., Reisner, S. L., Alizaga, N. M., Agénor, M., & Pardee, D. J. (2015). Cervical cancer screening for patients on the female-to-male spectrum: a narrative review and guide for clinicians. Journal of general internal medicine , 30 (12), 1857-1864.
