Learning About Cervical Cancer
- Louise Gray, a 34-year-old mom of five who previously fought cervical cancer in the early months of 2021, started feeling sick again in November last year, but she was told the bowel problems she was experiencing were due to constipation.
- Despite Gray’s suspicion about the cancer returning, doctors treated her with laxatives.
- Cervical cancer begins in the cells lining the cervix the lower part of the womb (uterus). Treatment options for cervical cancer include surgery, chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy. HPV (human papillomavirus), a sexually-transmitted virus, causes more than 70% of cervical cancer cases.
- Nearly all cases of cervical cancer are caused by HPV, but people should also be aware that HPV puts both men and women at risk of developing several other cancers as well including cancers of the vagina, penis, anus and throat. Thankfully, we have HPV vaccines.
Louise Gray, a mom of five who previously fought cervical cancer in the early months of 2021, started feeling sick again in November last year, but her family insisted she wasn’t checked for cancer and was told the bowel problems she was experiencing were due to constipation. Despite Gray’s suspicion about the cancer returning, doctors treated her with laxatives.
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Spence continued, “She then returned to the doctors when her bowl problems hadn't changed and was given even stronger laxatives. When my sister [Louise’s mum] called 999 seven weeks ago, Louise was so poorly, and her potassium levels were so low. We thought she was going to die. The whole situation has just been horrendous. It went so quickly from one thing to another.”
Now Spence is hoping to raise awareness to prevent others from having something like this happen to their family.
“If the doctors aren't listening to you, you need to keep pressing and pushing. Louise was a bubbly, fun loving, witty individual,” she concluded.
Understanding Cervical Cancer
Cervical cancer begins in the cells lining the cervix the lower part of the womb (uterus). Treatment options for cervical cancer include surgery, chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy. We don't know the cause of Gold's cancer, but HPV (human papillomavirus), a sexually-transmitted virus, causes more than 70% of cervical cancer cases. It's important to note, however, that other risk factors like smoking can make you about twice as likely to get cervical cancer as those who don't smoke.
The American Cancer Society estimates that the United States will see about 14,100 new cases of invasive cervical cancer in 2022. Cervical cancer screening is critically important because an earlier diagnosis can mean a better prognosis with broader treatment options.
The American Cancer Society recommends that cervical cancer screening begins at age 25, and people aged 25 to 65 should have a primary HPV test, an HPV test done by itself for screening, every 5 years. If primary HPV testing is not available, however, screening may be done with either a co-test that combines an HPV test with a Papanicolaou (Pap) test every 5 years or a Pap test alone every 3 years.
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The most common symptoms of cervical cancer can include:
- Abnormal vaginal bleeding, such as bleeding after vaginal sex, bleeding after menopause, after douching, bleeding and spotting in between periods or having heavier or longer (menstrual) periods than usual.
- Unusual discharge from the vagina that may contain some blood and may occur between your periods or after menopause.
- Pain during sex.
- Pain in the pelvic region.
What Is HPV?
Nearly every sexually-active person will get HPV at some point in their lives, but most people with the infection do not know they have it and never develop symptoms or health problems from it. The virus is spread via sexual activity and can manifest as warts on your genitals or mouth.
Get the Facts: HPV Can Cause Cancer in Men Too
When people talk about HPV and cancer risk, they tend to focus on cervical cancer. And while it's true that nearly all cases of cervical cancer are caused by HPV, people should also be aware that HPV puts both men and women at risk of developing several other cancers as well including cancers of the vagina, penis, anus and throat.
Oral and throat cancers, for example, are both on the rise in young, non-smoking adults, and Dr. Allen S. Ho, an oncologist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, says HPV is the cause.
"The fastest-growing segment of the people developing oral cancers are young non-smokers," Dr. Ho told SurvivorNet in a previous interview. "HPV, a very common virus, one responsible for the vast majority of cervical cancers, is now identified as a cause of this rapid rise of oral cancers."
Learning about the HPV Vaccines
Thankfully, we have three types of HPV vaccines Gardasil 9, Gardasil and Cervarix. All three went through years of extensive safety testing before being approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the CDC reports that HPV vaccination has the potential to prevent more than 90 percent of HPV-attributable cancers.
The HPV vaccines, like other immunizations that guard against viral infection, stimulate the body to produce antibodies that attack if they encounter the HPV infection by binding to the virus and preventing it from infecting cells. HPV vaccines do not prevent other sexually transmitted diseases or treat existing HPV infections/HPV-caused disease, but their implementation can reduce the rates of certain cancers.
And while Dr. Susan Vadaparampil, the associate center director of community outreach, engagement and equity at Moffitt Cancer Center, previously told SurvivorNet there are few medical strategies that totally prevent against getting cancer in the first place, she emphasized that data from countries with high rates of vaccine coverages shows decreases in HPV-related pre-cancer and cancer particularly so in the case of cervical cancer.
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"We have a safe and effective vaccine to prevent HPV-related cancer," Dr. Vadaparampil told SurvivorNet. "It is widely available, and costs are typically covered by private or public insurance."
Eileen Duffey-Lind, a pediatric nurse practitioner at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Boston Children's Hospital, echoed Dr. Vadaparampil's sentiment.
"No one should die of a preventable cancer like those tied to HPV, especially since we have a highly effective and safe vaccine available," Duffey-Lind previously told SurvivorNet.
Who Should Get the HPV Vaccine?
According to the CDC, the HPV vaccine is recommended for all preteens (both girls and boys) 11 to 12 years old in two doses administered between six and 12 months apart. The series of shots can also be started as early as 9 years old.
That being said, the CDC also says that teens and young adults through age 26 who didn't start or finish the HPV vaccine series also need the vaccine. And people with weakened immune systems or teens and young adults who start the series between the ages of 15 and 26 should get three doses instead of two.
Additionally, the HPV vaccine is sometimes administered in adults up to 45 years old, but it is not recommended for everyone older than 26. Still, a person older than 26 might decide to get vaccinated after talking to their doctor about possible benefits even though it is less effective in this age range since more people have already been exposed to HPV by this time.
Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff
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