What You Need to Know About Testing for Cervical Cancer

By Stacy Simon During the past several decades, screening – testing for cancer before symptoms develop – has reduced deaths from cervical cancer, as doctors have been able to find cancer early and treat it, or prevent it from ever developing. However, those declines have begun to taper off—especially among younger women. From 2007 to 2011, death rates from cervical cancer remained the same among women younger than 50, while decreasing by 1.1% per year among women 50 years of age and older. And many women are missing the opportunity to be screened. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and prevention (CDC), 8 million women who should be getting screening tests for cervical cancer aren’t getting them. More than 12,000 women get cervical cancer every year and according to the CDC report, more than half of them occur among women who have never – or rarely – been screened. RESOURCES: Cervical cancer resourcesHPV and cervical cancerCervical cancer screening guidelinesHuman papilloma virus (HPV) vaccinesSigns and symptoms of cervical cancer Cervical cancer is caused by HPV Another way of preventing cervical cancer is to get vaccinated against human papilloma virus (HPV). To get the most out of the HPV vaccine, a woman should get it before she has any type of sexual contact with another person. The American Cancer Society recommends that the vaccine be given to girls at age 11 to 12. Even with vaccination, though, screening t...
Source: American Cancer Society :: News and Features - Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: Cervical Cancer Prevention/Early Detection Source Type: news