Causes of Cervical Cancer
Exposure to the human
papillomavirus (HPV), a common sexually
transmitted disease, has been linked to cervical
cancer. It is estimated that over 6 million
people contract HPV annually in the
United States. Most women never know they
have HPV because their immune system suppresses
the virus. Only a small percentage of women
with HPV will develop cervical cancer.
Additional risk factors include:
- High-risk sexual behavior – multiple sexual partners, becoming sexually active at an early age, sexual partners who have multiple partners, exposure to sexually transmitted diseases (chlamydia, HIV).
- Women whose mothers took the drug DES (diethylstilbestrol) during pregnancy (in the early 1970s) to prevent miscarriage.
- Long-term use of birth control pills (more than five years).
- Poor economic status (unable to afford regular Pap smears).
- Smoking.
The development of cervical cancer is very
slow. It begins as a pre-cancerous condition
called dysplasia which
can be detected by having a Pap
smear (a screening procedure that detects
cervical changes before cancer develops). Early
detection greatly improves the chances of successful
treatment and prevents any early cervical cell
changes from becoming cancerous.
Most cases of
invasive cancer (cancer that spreads to other
parts of the body) have been found in
women who have not had a Pap smear in the last
five years or have not followed up on abnormal
Pap results. For this reason, it is crucial for
women to receive regular pelvic examinations
and Pap smears to detect cervical changes before
cells become cancerous and spread to other parts
of the body.
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