It is placed near your vulva but is not put inside your body. The procedure is done by a colposcopist — usually a gynaecologist or, in some clinics a nurse practitioner. If the colposcopist sees any suspicious looking areas, they will usually take a tissue sample biopsy from the surface of the cervix for examination under a microscope by a pathologist. If any of the tests show precancerous cell changes you may have a large loop excision procedure or a cone biopsy.
LLETZ is the most common method to remove cervical tissue for examination and treating precancerous changes of the cervix. It is usually done under a local anaesthetic. A cone biopsy is used where there are abnormal glandular cells in the cervix or if early-stage cancer is suspected.
After finding out you have cervical cancer, you may feel shocked, anxious, upset or confused. These are all normal responses. Everyone reacts differently and there is no right way to feel. You may find it helpful to talk to family and friends about your feeling. Talk about your treatment options with your doctor and seek as much information as you need. If cervical cancer is detected, it will be staged, from stage 1, which means abnormal cells are found only in the tissue of the cervix to stage 4 , which means the cancer has spread beyond the pelvis to the lung, liver or bones.
This helps your doctors plan the best treatment for you. Treatment depends on disease stage. For early and non-bulky disease less than 4cm , treatment is surgery , sometimes with chemoradiation therapy afterwards.
If the tumour is small, a cone biopsy may suffice; in some cases hysterectomy surgical removal of the uterus is required. For locally advanced disease, a combination of radiation therapy radiotherapy and chemotherapy cisplatin is used. The Pap smear test has changed to the new Cervical Screening Test. The incidence and mortality rates due to cervical cancer have halved in Australia since the introduction of the National Cervical Screening Program in The program offered a free Pap smear test every two years to women between the ages of 18 and Under the new program, most women aged will be tested every five years.
If you have previously had a Pap smear test, you should have your first HPV test two years after your last Pap test. If you have a negative HPV result, you can wait five years before your next screening test. The changes recognise the introduction in of a vaccine against specific strains of HPV. This will be part of the renewal of the National Cervical Screening Program.
The new screening program is designed to work together with the HPV vaccination program, offered to teenage boys and girls, to help reduce the incidence of cervical cancer. In certain cases, you can collect a sample yourself under the supervision of a healthcare professional who also offers cervical screening. You must be at least 30 years old and have never had a cervical screening test or are overdue a test by at least 2 years.
Information on the renewed program can be found on the Australian Government Department of Health's screening website. Long-lasting infection with certain types of human papillomavirus HPV is the main cause of cervical cancer.
HPV is a common virus that is passed from one person to another during sex. At least half of sexually active people will have HPV at some point in their lives, but few women will get cervical cancer.
Screening tests and the HPV vaccine can help prevent cervical cancer. When cervical cancer is found early, it is highly treatable and associated with long survival and good quality of life. Are you worried about the cost? CDC offers free or low-cost cervical cancer screening tests. Find out if you qualify. Skip directly to site content Skip directly to page options Skip directly to A-Z link.
Cervical Cancer. Section Navigation. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Syndicate. These symptoms can have other causes, including infection. Anyone who experiences any of these symptoms should see a doctor. Working out the stage of a cancer is important, as it helps a person decide the most effective type of treatment. Staging aims to assess how far the cancer has spread and whether it has reached nearby structures or more distant organs.
A 4-stage system is the most common way to stage cervical cancer. Undergoing screening and seeking medical attention if any symptoms occur can help a person access early treatment and increase the chances of survival. Cancer is the result of the uncontrolled division and growth of abnormal cells. Most of the cells in our body have a set lifespan, and, when they die, the body generates new cells to replace them.
This results in an excessive buildup of cells, which eventually forms a lump, or tumor. Scientists are not completely sure why cells become cancerous. Cervical cancer treatment options include surgery, radiotherapy , chemotherapy , or combinations of these. Deciding on the kind of treatment depends on several factors, such as the stage of the cancer, as well as age and overall state of health.
Treatment for early-stage cervical cancer, when the cancer remains within the cervix, has a good success rate. The further a cancer spreads from its original area, the lower the success rate tends to be.
Surgery is a common treatment method when the cancer has not spread from the cervix. Radiation therapy may help after surgery if a doctor believes that cancer cells might be present inside the body.
Radiation therapy may also reduce the risk of recurrence cancer coming back. If the surgeon wants to shrink the tumor to make it easier to operate, the person may receive chemotherapy although this is not a very common approach. Doctors also refer to advanced cancer as invasive cancer, because it has invaded other areas of the body. This type of cancer requires more extensive treatment, which will typically involve either radiation therapy or a combination of radiation therapy and chemotherapy.
In the later stages of cancer, healthcare professionals provide palliative therapy to relieve symptoms and improve quality of life. When the treating doctor aims radiation at the pelvic area, it may cause the following side effects, some of which may not emerge until after the treatment is over:. Chemotherapy is the use of chemicals medication to treat any disease. In this context, it refers to the destruction of cancer cells.
Doctors use chemotherapy to target cancer cells that surgery cannot or did not remove, or to help the symptoms of people with advanced cancer. The side effects of chemotherapy can vary, and they depend on the specific drug. More common side effects include:. Clinical trials are an integral part of the cancer research process. Researchers carry them out to determine the safety and effectiveness of new treatments, and whether they are better than existing ones.
Visit this government resource to learn more about which clinical trials are currently open.
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