May is Women’s Health Month, a time to encourage women to prioritize their health, schedule preventative screenings, and adopt healthy habits. Cervical cancer screening is only part of a woman’s routine health care, but it’s often considered one of the most critical preventative
screening tools.
“Cervical cancer is one of the most common cancers in women in the world. We’re very lucky in our country; we’re very fortunate to have access to obstetrician gynecologists,” says Dr. Michael Socher, Obstetrician-Gynecologist at Arnot Health, a Member of Centralus Health.
While the risk of cervical cancer is low in young people, screening is initiated at a young age to check for high-risk Human Papillomavirus (HPV) related cell changes that may develop into cancer over time.
“Everyone should be screened every 3 to 5 years depending on the type of test that you have and the results of your previous testing. We do this from 21 until about 65. We generally don’t screen after the age of 65 provided you’ve had a relatively normal history. If you’ve had some abnormalities pop up or had procedures before, we may recommend more frequent and prolonged screening,” says Kat Proper, Obstetrics and Gynecology Nurse Practitioner at Arnot Health, a Member of Centralus Health.
Generally, family history helps doctors determine your risk for developing certain diseases or ailments. However, this isn’t true for every disease a woman is screened for during routine examinations.
“Family history is important in some cancers; it turns out that cervical cancer is a sexually transmitted cancer. It’s caused by Human Papillomavirus, or HPV. Family history is less common; it’s really an individual screening factor,” says Dr. Socher.
Cervical cancer is hard to detect without testing in early stages. Screening helps to find precancerous cells or lesions, caused by persistent HPV, which can be removed before turning into cancer.
“Early stages of cervical cancer do not have any signs or symptoms. That’s part of the reason why we do cervical cancer screening. If you are having symptoms, it could include things like pain or bleeding, but often if it’s gotten that far, it’s at a more advanced stage,” says Kat.
According to the CDC, almost every unvaccinated person who is sexually active will get HPV. About 13 million Americans are infected with HPV each year. Most HPV infections will go away on their own. Infections that linger can cause certain types of cancer, like cervical cancer.
“One thing that people should consider is getting the Gardasil vaccine. There’s a lot of vaccine hesitancy and I certainly speak to that. I try to help patients understand the role that HPV vaccinations play in their health,” says Dr. Socher.
HPV is estimated to cause nearly 36,500 cases of cancer in men and women every year in the United States. In women, HPV vaccination can help prevent cervical cancer by preventing the infections that cause them.
“Everybody should get it, males and females. A lot of primary care providers have the vaccine. OB/GYNs can do it, primary care providers can do it. Anyone who is treating children should have the vaccine as well,” says Kat.
Most children only need two doses of HPV vaccine when vaccinated before age 15. People age 15 to 45 can get the vaccination series but will need three doses to ensure efficacy.
“Everyone from ages 9 to 26 should be vaccinated. Beyond that, under certain circumstances, we certainly would recommend people be vaccinated. It protects against some of the most high-risk strains that can cause cervical cancer and some strains that can cause genital warts.”
Arnot Health, a member of Centralus Health, offers OB/GYN services at 600 Fitch Street, Elmira and 100 John Roemmelt Drive, Horseheads. Cayuga Health offers OB/GYN services at 20 Arrowwood Drive, Ithaca; 1301 Trumansburg Road, Ithaca; 401 Cayuga Park Lane, Ithaca, and 260 Tompkins St, Cortland
