Stress may contribute to cervical cancer

Philadelphia PA

Researchers know that human papilloma virus, or HPV, is responsible for the vast majority of cervical cancers. But usually, when a woman is infected with HPV, the infection resolves by itself, without any medical treatment. And many more people are exposed to HPV than get cancer. Rose Hoban reports on efforts to understand what causes some women to get cancer, and others not.

How women deal with stress may affect their risk of cervical cancer. Scientists have wondered what increases a woman's risk for cervical cancer once she has been exposed to HPV. And they also wonder why some people get cancer and others don't.

Studies have suggested that psychological stress is associated with decreased immune protection. Researcher Carolyn Fang from the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia says she wanted to see if this was true with women exposed to HPV.

Fang and her colleagues recruited women who had changes on their Pap smear, the test used to detect early cell changes indicative of cervical cancer. They had the women fill out questionnaires that asked more than simply medical history.

"We asked … about how they were feeling at that time, how they had been feeling in the past month, what kinds of events have occurred in their lives over the past six months," Fang explains.

The women were asked about two kinds of stress: one was a checklist of stressful events that may have taken place recently in the women's lives, the other was a subjective measure of how stressed they felt. Then researchers took blood samples from each subject. The blood was used in their analysis of immune response to HPV. More >>

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Scientists try to unravel role of stress on cervical cancer

Cancer Research UK

A small study has suggested that daily stress may reduce a woman's ability to fight off strain 16 of the human papillomavirus (HPV16), which is responsible for the majority of cases of cervical cancer.

But a Cancer Research UK spokesperson said that the study was far too small to be conclusive.

HPV is a sexually transmitted infection, certain strains of which can cause precancerous cervical lesions or cancer.

The researchers, from the Fox Chase Cancer Centre in the US, asked women who had been diagnosed with precancerous cervical lesions to complete a questionnaire giving details of their perceived levels of stress during the previous month and whether or not they had experienced any stressful events during their lifetime, such as a divorce or loss of a family member.

They found that daily stress appeared to be linked to an increased risk of cervical cancer and hypothesised that stress may affect immune function and reduce a woman's ability to fight off HPV.

However, no such link was found between cervical cancer risk and past major life events. More >>

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Cervial Cancer Prevention in Kentucky

Lexington, KY

Cervical Cancer is almost 100 percent curable when found early...but what you don't know about prevention and detection could kill you.

Officials with the Kentucky Cancer Program say Kentucky ranks second in the nation in cervical cancer deaths.

Internal medicine and pediatrics doctor Anthony Yonts says a part of the reason for that is many families are uncomfortable talking about sex and prevention...and as a result many women aren't being screened.

You can see much more on this topic Monday night on Issues and Answers at 7pm on WYMT.

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Study: Female smokers may increase risk of cervical cancer

University Park, PA

A study released last month by the Penn State College of Medicine has added yet another negative effect to smoking -- a potential for an increased level of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) in women already infected.
"Our study is the first to show that there is a biological marker between tobacco smoke and the virus that causes cancer," said Craig Meyers, researcher and professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the College of Medicine at the Hershey Medical Center.
The study was conducted to discover the effect of smoking on women specifically, according to a Penn State Live statement posted Thursday. The study was released in the January 2008 issue of the Journal of Virology, part of the American Society of Microbiology.
Results showed that exposure to cigarette smoke containing cancer-causing carcinogen can increase the HPV levels in cervical mucus by up to 10 times. The three most commonly associated types of HPV all showed elevated levels when exposed to the carcinogen. HPV can lead to women's cervical cancer, which is the third-leading type of cancer in women.
"If a woman with the initial signs of HPV continues to smoke, it is likely that she will be back at the Ob-Gyn for surgery. But if she stops, she may never have to be seen again," Meyers said. More >>

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Early detection essential to preventing cervical cancer

Orlando, FL

Every year in the United States, 11,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and 4,000 will die from it.

News 13's Christine Webb explains why education and early detection are such an important part of prevention.

Girl Scouts may be an unlikely audience for a discussion about cervical cancer, but Allison Hicks is a cancer survivor and she is trying to spread the word about ways to prevent the disease.

"I had no idea that this type of cancer even exited," Hicks said.

Hicks was diagnosed three years ago. She learned that cervical cancer is caused by the human papilloma virus or HPV -- which is transmitted sexually.

"Cervical cancer is definitely preventable. It's preventable by not allowing transmission of HPV to the woman," said Dr. Ursula Matulonis, of the Dana Farber Cancer Insitute. More >>

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January is cervical cancer awareness month

York County, Maine

January is Cervical Cancer Awareness Month, and the Southern Maine Medical Center (SMMC) is reminding women to have a Pap test, especially if they have not had one in several years.

Cervical cancer is nearly 100 percent curable when caught in the earliest stages, and regular Pap tests save lives, SMMC stated in a press release.

SMMC is collaborating with the Maine Breast and Cervical Health Program to provide ongoing screenings at no cost to women who qualify. Maine women between the ages of 40 and 64 who are without health insurance may qualify for a free Pap test and mammogram under this program.

Cervical cancer is the easiest gynecological cancer to prevent through regular Pap tests and a new vaccination, when applicable, SMMC said. Although cervical cancer remains a leading cause of death in countries where Pap tests are not available, in the United States deaths from cervical cancer have declined dramatically — by 80 percent — since the introduction of the Pap test in the 1940s. This sharp drop in deaths is directly attributed to the Pap test, which detects abnormal cervical cells even before they develop into cancer. Once detected, the cells can be removed, preventing women from developing cancer of the cervix.

Most invasive cervical cancer is found in women who either have not had a Pap test in five or more years, or have never had a Pap test. In 2007, an estimated 11,000 U.S. women were diagnosed with cervical cancer and 3,600 died from the disease, according to the press release. Many of these deaths could have been prevented through early detection with a simple Pap test.

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Cervical cancer prevented by routine check up

Boone, NC

It is as painless as brushing your teeth, but most women fear it more than midterms, a first date and stepping on the scale after the holidays combined.

By either age 21 or three years after the onset of sexual activity, every female should have her first visit to the gynecologist.

Appointments are available through Student Health Services for pap smears and sexually transmitted infection
screenings.

Students can schedule appointments for as early as the following day.

Appointment times are either during health service operation hours or from 4:30–7:30 p.m. after hours.

A pap smear is $30 and STI tests are free.

Sarah E. Summers, family nurse practitioner at Student Health Services, recommends women to schedule appointments.

“Screening for cervical cancer is a reason why women should go,” Summers said. “[Screening] doesn’t take much time, it’s cost effective, there’s only mild discomfort and it’s the only way to screen for cervical cancer.”

Summers said after the initial exam, a pap smear should be conducted once every year until the age of 30.

At that point, going once every two to three years is probable.

“The risk for human papillomavirus (HPV,) which causes cervical cancer, drops after the age of 30,” Summers said.

Health services offers Gardasil, a vaccination for the virus, for $125 per injection. Three injections are required for a complete vaccination.

“Women in third world countries who don’t have annual pap smears die from cervical cancer,” she said. “The United States should never have a death from cervical cancer.”

In 2004, more than 11,850 women were diagnosed with cervical cancer, and over 3,800 women died as a result.

That same year, over $2 billion was spent treating the disease, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. More >>

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