Cervical Cancer Screening and Diagnosis

January 25, 2022

4 min read

Cervical cancer, once the leading cause of cancer death among women in the United States, has become significantly reduced as a result of routine screening and early detection. Although the number of people affected by cervical cancer has been greatly reduced, this type of cancer still affects more than 14,000 women in the United States each year, according to the American Association for Cancer Research.

January Designated as Cervical Health Awareness Month

Congress has deemed January 2022 Cervical Health Awareness month to use this time to create awareness, encourage women to undergo routine screening tests, and educate the general public about the importance of screening. Through routine screening for cervical cancer, the number of cases reported has drastically decreased, although it is responsible for claiming the life of approximately 4,200 women in 2020 alone.

What is cervical cancer?

Cancer cells can begin growing anywhere in the body and the area these abnormal cells form to determine the type of cancer a person is diagnosed with. The cervix is located at the bottom of the uterus and connects the uterus to the vagina.

When malignant cells begin rapidly growing in the cervix, the healthy cells are taken over and cancer begins to grow, resulting in a diagnosis of cervical cancer. It is important to note that cervical cancer has the potential to metastasize or spread to other areas of the body including the lungs.

Cervical cancer is most often caused by a Human Papillomavirus (HPV) infection. Most sexually active adults are exposed to HPV, however, they do not know they have been exposed as this viral infection often shows no symptoms. High-risk HPV has the potential to turn into cervical cancer although not all women experience this.

What is cervical cancer screening?

Screening involves various tests or procedures to monitor or look for abnormalities. In the sense of cervical cancer screening, physicians are looking for cancer cells in the cervix before symptoms arise. It is thought that if cancer cells are detected early on, treatment may be more effective, and spreading may be prevented.

Cervical cancer screening includes the Pap test, an HPV test, or both. The Pap test screens for abnormal cervix cell changes. The HPV test checks for many high-risk types of HPV, including those before presenting with visible changes to cervical cells.

How is cervical cancer diagnosed?

Women should review the U.S. Preventative Task Force outlined recommendations of when women of various ages and situations should be screened for cervical cancer and talk to their doctors about getting screened.

For instance, women between the age of 21 years and 65 years old should undergo cervical cancer screening once per year with up to 3 years between appointments, depending on what your physician finds.

During a routine OB-GYN appointment, a physician will perform a Pap smear to inspect the cervical cells and tissue to determine if there are abnormalities. If abnormal cervical cells are found during a routine Pap test, a gynecologist will utilize a magnifying instrument known as a colposcope to magnify and inspect the cells.

A biopsy will be taken by removing a small cell sample and is then sent for laboratory testing to determine if the cells are malignant or benign (cancerous or non-cancerous). A biopsy is the most common testing performed to determine if cancer is present, however, the patient’s age, health, signs and symptoms, previous medical test results, and the type of cancer suspected are taken into consideration as well.

Once a diagnosis of cervical cancer has been made by a licensed physician, staging cancer and determining if cancer has spread to other areas of the body is next. A woman diagnosed with cervical cancer can expect to undergo imaging including:

X-ray
CT scan
MRI
PET scan

The importance of cervical cancer screening

You must encourage the women around you to maintain cervical cancer screening appointments to prevent cancerous cells from forming. It can be caught early, so regular screening is imperative.

Women aged 21 and older, both celibate and sexually active, should undergo routine cervical cancer screening. Screening allows a physician to detect any abnormal changes before the abnormal cells become malignant and cancer spreads. If you receive a normal cervical screening result, you may not need to undergo testing for 3 years.

It is important to note that cervical screening holds the utmost importance in the early detection of abnormal cervical cells as it can take 3 to 7 years for abnormal cells to become malignant or cancerous.

Individuals looking to learn more about Cervical Cancer can look to the many associations and foundations, including the National Cervical Cancer Coalition (NCCC), Cervivor, and The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), U.S. Preventative Task Force.

In addition, Healthread offers a platform where readers can share their stories by recording and talking about their cervical cancer diagnosis.