Cervical Cancer
By Gisela Alamo
What is cervical cancer?
Prevention
Cervical Cell Comparison
Normal Cervix vs Cancerous
What causes cervical cancer?
Cervical cancer is also more likely to onset in women who are frequent smokers.
Prevention
- Receiving regular cervical cancer screening
- Getting the HPV vaccine before becoming sexually active
Diagnosis
- Lab Tests
A doctor or nurse will scrape cell samples from the cervix and then take to a lab to test for results.
2. Cervical Cancer Exam
A doctor will use a colposcope, which is a thing that combines bright light with a magnifying glass to perform an exam.
3. Tissue Sample
A biopsy can be performed, which would involve removal of tissue to look for cancer. This would require simply local anesthesia.
Treatments
- Surgery
- Radiation therapy
- Chemotherapy
- Or combination of the above
Treatment depends on the size of tumor, and if the women plans on becoming pregnant.
Symptoms
- Abnormal vaginal bleeding
- Pain in the lower abdomen or pelvis
- Problems with urination
- Problems with defecation
- Bad odor with discharge
- Pain during intercourse
These are just few of the symptoms, as they can vary from person to person.
Frequency in Population
The amount of estimated cases of cervical cancer in the United States alone is about 12,360 in 2014. Estimated deaths in 2014 are 4,020.