What Do You Know About Cervical Cancer?

The cervix forms a canal at the lower part of the uterus. The canal opens into the vagina, or birth canal. This canal leads to the outside of the body.

Without treatment, this cancer can reach the small blood vessels and lymph vessels in the cervix. From there, it spreads to the rest of the body.

Women are at greater risk if they have sex before age 18. They also are at greater risk if they have many sexual partners, according to the NCI. Women also are at higher risk if their male partners began having sex at a young age, have had many sexual partners, or were married to women who had cervical cancer. A woman or man with many sexual partners is more at risk for picking up a sexually transmitted virus. HPV is a virus that causes genital warts. This virus is considered the main cause of cervical cancer. Women with HPV or whose partners have HPV have a higher risk for cervical cancer. Other factors may cause cervical cancer in women with HPV. Smoking may be one of these causes. The more cigarettes or the longer a woman smokes, the greater her risk. The virus that causes AIDS damages the body's immune system. It puts women more at risk for HPV infections. These may increase the risk for cervical cancer.

That's why it's important for a woman to have regular tests for cervical cancer. If all women had regular pelvic exams and Pap tests, most cervical cancers could be prevented, according to the NCI. An effective way to prevent HPV infection is to get vaccinated against the virus. The vaccine is used to prevent, not treat, an HPV infection, the ACS says. To be most effective, the HPV vaccine should be given before a person begins having sexual intercourse.

By the time symptoms develop, the cancer has become advanced. Abnormal vaginal bleeding, pain in the pelvic area, or loss of appetite may indicate the cancer has reached nearby tissue.

The Pap test looks for any changes in the cells that make up your cervix. The test can detect whether you have an infection. It can also find abnormal cells that may progress to cancer. It can also find cervical cancer. The Pap test takes only a few minutes. Your health care provider will put an instrument called a speculum into your vagina. He or she will use a brush or swab to take a few cells from the cervix. For most women, the test is painless, although some feel discomfort. A laboratory looks at the cells to see if they are healthy. The best time for a Pap test is 12 to 14 days after the beginning of the last menstrual period. A pelvic exam is usually done at the same time as the Pap test. In a pelvic exam, a health care provider checks the uterus and ovaries.

Once a woman begins having a Pap test, she should get one each year. The newer liquid-based Pap test can be given every year or every two years. Women who are 30 or older and who have had three normal Pap tests in a row may not need a test every year. Instead, they may be tested every two or three years, depending on what their health care provider advises. A woman who doesn't need an annual Pap test still needs an annual pelvic exam, according to the National Cervical Cancer Campaign. A woman who is 70 or older and who has had three or more normal Pap tests in a row, and no abnormal test in the last 10 years, may be able to stop getting an annual Pap test, according to the ACS.

Cervical cancer, or conditions that will eventually become cervical cancer, are more likely to be detected early when a woman regularly gets a Pap test.

Most forms of cervical cancer are found by a Pap test. Deaths from this disease have been cut by half since the test became available.

In the first two cases, regular Pap tests are essential to make sure that the cervical cancer, or uterine or ovarian cancers have not recurred, according to the ACS. If the cervix was not removed in the hysterectomy, a woman needs regular Pap tests because there is still a chance that she could develop cervical cancer. If a woman has a hysterectomy to treat pre-cancerous changes in the cervix, she should continue to have a Pap test for at least a few years after the surgery, according to the ACS.