January is Cervical Cancer Awareness Month

By Gigi Chen, MD

It is estimated that last year about 12,710 new cases of invasive cervical cancer were diagnosed. Cervical cancer is typically diagnosed in the mid life of women, between 20-50 years of age. It is important that women older than 50 continue to get their annual checkups as 20% of women diagnosed are over 65 years of age.

There are many risk factors that attribute to cervical cancer including:  

• Early onset of sexual activity, multiple sexual partners, or history of sexually transmitted disease increase the risk of cervical cancer.
  

• Family history – Population studies show that if a women’s mother or sisters have been diagnosed with cervical cancer than she is 2 to 3 times more likely to develop cervical cancer.

• HPV - The human papilloma virus infection is one of the most important risk factors for this type of cancer. HPV is a grouping of viruses that occur on the surface of skin, on genitals, anus, or mouth causing papilloma’s, otherwise known as warts. Certain HPV infections have a stronger link to cancers than others. Receiving the HPV vaccine is highly recommended along with abstinence of sexual contact with someone you know has HPV.

• Oral Contraceptives - Recent studies have shown that women who are taking oral contraceptives for longer than 5 years doubled their risk of having cervical cancer. Consequently, a women’s risk lowers after she stops the oral contraceptives.

It is important to remember that your daily actions affect your body long term; it is your responsibility to take care of it. To help lower your risk of cervical cancer as well as other cancers make sure to have annual exams and pap smears, be aware of others with HPV, eat right, exercise and no smoking!