When should women be screened for cervical cancer?

According to Cancer Records 2018, Vietnam has about 4,200 new cases and more than 2,400 deaths from cervical cancer. Most patients come for examination and treatment when the disease is at a late stage.

Cervical cancer is one of the most common diseases in women especially in their 30s and older. This is a disease in which cancer cells usually originate from the transition zone where the squamous and columnar epithelial cells of the cervix junction.

TS, Dr. Nguyen Tien Duc recommends, screening, early detection of cancer is the best method to help detect abnormalities, precancerous signs, or cancer cancer at an early stage, before the disease causes symptoms, and the chances of successful treatment are high.

Warning signs of cervical cancer include: yellow vaginal discharge with an unpleasant odor or discharge with bloody mucus; unusual vaginal bleeding; vaginal bleeding after sex; pain in the lower abdomen; urinating, passing blood when the cancer invades the bladder and rectum.

Cervical cancer is a curable disease if detected early and treated at an early stage. Early detection of cervical cancer is essential for the treatment of this disease, effective treatment and quality of life for patients.
Depending on the stage of the disease, the doctor will recommend an appropriate treatment plan. Currently, in Vietnam, cervical cancer is being treated according to modern and effective methods such as radical surgery, radical chemoradiotherapy, chemotherapy and radiotherapy combined with surgery. Surgery is the most common treatment for early-stage cervical cancer. The scope of cervical cancer surgery may be cervical cone surgery. Total hysterectomy, radical hysterectomy, laparoscopic or open lymphadenectomy.

Early detection of cervical cancer will help the treatment process to be most effective. Therefore, prevention and early detection of cervical cancer must always be a top priority. Women should pay attention to abnormal manifestations, closely monitor their health, should have regular gynecological examinations and do cervical cancer screening tests as prescribed by the doctor, along with vaccinations. vaccines. This is the earliest way to prevent and detect cervical cancer.

Some risk factors for cervical cancer

- HPV virus: is the main culprit causing cervical cancer (99.7%), sexually transmitted. Normally, there are more than 100 types of HPV, but 14 types have a high risk of causing this type of cancer. In which, there are two types with the highest risk, type 16 and type 18.

- Immunosuppression: drugs or diseases that affect the immune system, such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), can increase the risk of infection HPV infection and lead to cervical cancer.

- The older the age, the higher the risk, especially over 35 years old.

- Giving birth too early (under 17 years old) when the reproductive organs are not fully developed will increase the risk of cervical cancer.

- Women who give birth multiple times (three or more times) have twice the disease rate than women who give birth 1 – 2 children.

- Some other causes: obesity, smoking, promiscuous sex, long-term use of birth control pills ….