Cervical Cancer Awareness

Every woman deserves a chance against cervical cancer.

Free seminar awareness on cervical cancer was given by our company for ladies exclusively.

Few minutes away before the seminar to start, we, girls hurriedly went down to take our seats. There are giveaways distributed like brochures, meeting notebook, and pink wristband that indicate Bravehearts: Stronger together for cervical cancer prevention.

The risk of cervical cancer is greater than we thought. Worldwide, a woman dies of cervical cancer every 2 minutes. In the Philippines, cervical cancer is the 2^nd leading killer cancer for woman. The 1^st killing cancer for woman is the breast cancer. The breast cancer is mostly obtained hereditary unlike the cervical cancer has no limits!

Cervical cancer is caused by a common virus known as HPV or Human Papilloma Virus.

HPV infection is easily transmitted:

- Acquisition may be by skin-to-skin contact through sexual intercourse or even oral sex
- Penetrative intercourse is not necessary to become infected

- Condom usage may not adequately protect individuals from exposure to HPV.

Risk Factors:

-         Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) infection

-         Having sex at an early age

-         Having many sexual partners

-         Having a partner who has had many sex partners

-         Having sex with uncircumcised males

-         Smoking

-         Family history of cervical cancer

-         Giving birth to many children

Signs and Symptoms:

Visible during the late stage of cancer.

-         Vaginal bleeding

-         Unusual vaginal discharge

-         Pelvic pain

-         Pain during sexual intercourse

Test needed for detection:

-         Pap smear

-         Pelvic exam

-         Biopsy

A pap smear is a test that checks for cancer in the cervix. While getting a Pap smear can seem intimidating, it’s actually a simple screening test that can save your life!

In Pap smear, cells are scraped from the cervix and examined under a microscope to check for disease or other problems.

You may feel that something is cold inside(plus the discomfort) but the procedure may take maximum of 5 minutes only.

There are two different speculums used: for virgins and for not.

Preventions:

-         HPV vaccination for females

-         Monogamy

-         Patient education

-         Regular pap smear

Treatment:

Varies with the stage of the disease.

-         Early invasive cancer – surgery is the treatment of choice

-         Advanced cases – radiation combined with chemotherapy is the current standard of care

-         Disseminated disease – chemotherapy or radiation provides symptom palliation

Prognosis of cervical cancer depends on disease stage. In general, the 5-year survival rate for stage 1 disease is higher than 90% for stage 2 is 60-80%, for stage 3 is approximately 50%, and for stage 4 disease is less than 30%.