Reality of Cervical Cancer

Each day in the United States, 30 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and 11 women die from it.

Cervical cancer is abnormal cells that develop on the cervix that are most likely caused by the human papillomavirus, or HPV.  Dr. Kristy Ritchie said cervical cancer is often overlooked, especially by those who don’t visit a doctor on a regular basis.  She said that pap smears are effective screening tests.

"They don’t have pap smears in Africa and other places like that, so the rates of cervical cancer there and death from cervical cancer are much higher," said Dr. Ritchie.  "With the advent of pap smears, our cervical cancer death rate has dropped by about 75% in the last 50 years."

Dr. Ritchie said it’s important to realize that the majority of HPV cases don’t lead to cervical cancer, but that doesn’t mean that women should avoid taking precautions.  Dr. Bijan Goodarzi said the guidelines for pap smears are in a state of flux.

"Right now the guidelines say that age 21 should be the first pap smear, and that has been a change," said Dr. Goodarzi.  "Before we used to think age 18 or the age of first sexual contact."

Dr. Ritchie said the early stages of cervical cancer are very treatable, but more advanced stages require invasive chemotherapy and radiation with a 50% survival rate.

We’ll continue our coverage Thursday night on the WHIZ News at 6 with a story focusing on oropharyngeal cancer.