What Is Ovarian And Cervical Cancer?
Have you ever heard of cervical cancer? Most all women have heard of this before, as it is the second common kind of cancer that affects women today. The risk of having cervical cancer has greatly decreased in recent years in the United States due to the fact that more women receive their yearly pap smears. These test help to locate the cancer before it fully develops and begins to spread allowing you the opportunity for treatment. However, it can still be a threat to women which is why it is so important for all women to have these examinations done every year.
Cervical cancer normally develops from the flat and scaly cells of cervix lining. The cervix is located at the bottom of a woman’s uterus. This is why a routine Pap smear can reveals any abnormities that may be occurring here. Invasive cervical cancer grows in stages. First precancerous cells develop; these cells eventually turn into cancer cells. Over a period of time these cancer cells begin to spread which is where the term invasive cervical cancer derived. Early detection means earlier treatment and possibly stopping the cancer in its early stages.
Therefore, women need to have their routine yearly exam done to check for sings of this kind of cancer. There is no specific reasons known as to why women develop cervical cancer, but there are some things that contribute to it. HPV which stands for human papillomavirus is a transmitted disease. Signs of HPV are found in many patients that also have cervical cancer which means that the two are closely related. Having a history of any sexual transmitted diseases can contribute to developing cervical cancer. Two other main factors include having sex when you are very young and having a lot of different partners. Women who smoke cigarettes are a higher risk of developing cervical cancer as well.
If you believe that you don’t have to worry about cervical cancer unless you see warning signs, then you have been greatly misled. Normally there are no warning signs that you may have this kind of cancer, at least not in the early stages when it can be best treated. This is because cervical cancer begins as an abnormal cell; it then turns into precancerous cells and later into cancer. As the cancer progresses you may begin to see a few warning signs that include vaginal bleeding or yellow discharge with odor and lower back pain. Having pain during sex and when trying to urinate are also signs. However, if you are experiencing these symptoms, then it has already developed into cancer and has become a serious condition. The longer you wait the harder cervical cancer is to treat and if you wait to long it becomes untreatable.