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Cervical cancer vaccines and screens
There has been plenty of news about vaccines to prevent cervical cancer in recent years and local health officials want to clarify the benefits of the vaccine.
“The most important viral risk factor for cervical cancer is HPV, the human papilloma virus,” said Dr. KeriLynn Loftus, OB/GYN for Beloit Memorial Hospital and Beloit Clinic.
She strongly reminds women that smoking is still the number 1 overall cause of cervical cancer.
HPV is a sexually transmitted virus that almost all (more than 99 percent) cervical cancers are related to. In the United States, approximately 6 million people contract HPV every year. Almost half of these infections are in people between 15 and 25 years of age.
A group of more than 100 types of related viruses, some HPVs, can cause genital warts. These are considered low risk because they rarely develop into cancer. Other high-risk HPVs have been linked to cervical cancer.
“In June 2006, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of a new vaccine to reduce chances of infection from the two types of HPV that cause 70 percent of all cervical cancers,” Loftus adds. “The vaccine also prevents the two types of HPV that cause 90 percent of all genital warts. For this reason we greatly recommend it to our patients.”
The Pap test detects cancer or abnormal cells that may lead to cancer in a woman's cervix. The American Cancer Society advises that women who've received the HPV vaccine continue to have regular Pap tests, because the HPV vaccine won't prevent all types of HPV that can cause cervical cancer.
“Getting the Pap test is important because early cervical pre-cancers or cancers often have no signs or symptoms,” Loftus explains. “While there is no treatment for HPV itself, there are treatments for the cell changes in the cervix that HPV can cause.”
Undergoing Pap testing should be a part of every woman's routine. For more information, please contact Dr. Loftus or one of the other OB/GYB's at Beloit Clinic (608-364-2220) or NorthPointe in Roscoe (815-525-4000).
Cervical Cancer vaccine, screening
HPV Vaccine
Girls ages 11 to 12 (as early as age 9). The HPV vaccine is recommended for girls in this age range because most have not yet become sexually active.
Girls ages 13 to 18 who have not yet started the vaccine series or who have started but have not completed the series.
Young women ages 19 to 26 should talk to their doctor or nurse about whether to get the vaccine.
Pap Test
All women should get yearly Pap tests starting about three years after they start having sex or no later than age 21.
Beginning at age 30, most women who have had three normal Pap test results in a row may be tested less often - every two to three years.
Healthy women 70 years of age or older who have had three or more normal Pap tests in a row and no abnormal Pap test results in the last 10 years may choose to stop having cervical cancer testing.
“The most important viral risk factor for cervical cancer is HPV, the human papilloma virus,” said Dr. KeriLynn Loftus, OB/GYN for Beloit Memorial Hospital and Beloit Clinic.
She strongly reminds women that smoking is still the number 1 overall cause of cervical cancer.
HPV is a sexually transmitted virus that almost all (more than 99 percent) cervical cancers are related to. In the United States, approximately 6 million people contract HPV every year. Almost half of these infections are in people between 15 and 25 years of age.
A group of more than 100 types of related viruses, some HPVs, can cause genital warts. These are considered low risk because they rarely develop into cancer. Other high-risk HPVs have been linked to cervical cancer.
“In June 2006, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of a new vaccine to reduce chances of infection from the two types of HPV that cause 70 percent of all cervical cancers,” Loftus adds. “The vaccine also prevents the two types of HPV that cause 90 percent of all genital warts. For this reason we greatly recommend it to our patients.”
The Pap test detects cancer or abnormal cells that may lead to cancer in a woman's cervix. The American Cancer Society advises that women who've received the HPV vaccine continue to have regular Pap tests, because the HPV vaccine won't prevent all types of HPV that can cause cervical cancer.
“Getting the Pap test is important because early cervical pre-cancers or cancers often have no signs or symptoms,” Loftus explains. “While there is no treatment for HPV itself, there are treatments for the cell changes in the cervix that HPV can cause.”
Undergoing Pap testing should be a part of every woman's routine. For more information, please contact Dr. Loftus or one of the other OB/GYB's at Beloit Clinic (608-364-2220) or NorthPointe in Roscoe (815-525-4000).
Cervical Cancer vaccine, screening
HPV Vaccine
Pap Test
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| Stateline Area Health News in Brief |
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