Get Screened! It can save YOUR life!
- Women over 40 should have a mammogram and pap smear tests annually.
- Women 18 and over should have a clinical breast exam and pap smear tests annually.
- New studies have shown that cervical cancer can be caused by a virus!
HPV and Cancer
It is estimated that in 2007 there will be about 10,520 new cases of invasive cervical cancer in the United States, which will result in about 3,900 deaths. Worldwide, about 500,000 new cases are diagnosed each year. The median age of diagnosis for cervical cancer for all races is 48 years. Due largely to routine screening using Pap tests, the number of deaths attributed to cervical cancer in the United States dropped 45 percent between the periods 1972-1974 and 1992-1994, and the number of cases declined 43 percent between 1973 and 1995. The five-year survival rate is nearly 100 percent for pre-invasive cervical cancer, and 91 percent for early invasive cancer. The overall five-year survival rate for all stages of cervical cancer is about 70 percent African-Americans experience a disproportionate number of deaths from cervical cancer. The death rate is 6.7 per 100,000 for black women, compared to 2.5 per 100,000 for white women. Latinas and Native Americans also have cervical cancer death rates that are above average.
Since the late 1800s, researchers have suspected that cervical cancer was sexually transmitted. Medical reports noted that nuns and virgins were not likely to have cervical cancer, and that women who were married to men who traveled a great deal or who had previous wives who died of cervical cancer were more likely to develop cervical cancer ("The Cervical Cancer Virus," 1995). Today, certain types of HPV have been established as causal agents in the development of the cellular changes that may lead to cervical cancer. Large studies have found that HPV is present in more than 93 percent of cervical cancer tumors. HPV 16 is responsible for about 50 percent of cervical cancers. HPV 18, 31, and 45 account for another 30 percent of cases. Other HPV types are associated with the remaining 20 percent of cases.
Even though HPV is considered a cause of cervical cancer, only one out of 1,000 women with HPV develops invasive cervical cancer. Most HPV infection never leads to the development of cervical cancer — even in the absence of medical intervention — and treating precancerous cervical lesions detected by Pap tests has greatly reduced the rate of invasive cervical cancer.
HPV appears to be necessary, but not sufficient, to the development of cervical cancer. Besides HPV type, researchers believe there are several cofactors that may contribute to the development of cervical cancer. These may include smoking, HIV infection, diet, hormonal factors, and the presence of other sexually transmitted infections, such as Chlamydia and/or herpes simplex virus 2.
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For More Information about screenings and our ENCOREplus Programs, contact ENCOREplus Director Nelan Boghorian
at 818-242-4155,
or click here to email Nelan : nelanboghorian@glendaleywca.org
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