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Cervical cancer is a female-only cancer as it is the development of neoplastic, or cancerous, changes in the cells of the cervix. Approximately 11,000 U.S. women are diagnosed with cervical cancer, and more than 3,500 deaths are associated with it, each year. The challenge with this particular cancer is the diagnosis. Cervical cancer symptoms are often not seen before the advanced stages of the disease.

The most common cervical cancer symptoms are pain and vaginal bleeding; vaginal bleeding after menopause is abnormal and medical advice should be sought. Pelvic pain is sometimes attributed to ovulation or PMS; prolonged pain should be examined by a doctor. Another symptom that may appear is unusually heavy discharge that mimics mucus and may possibly have a foul odor. Each woman should be aware of changes in her natural secretions. Once the cancer has spread, particularly to the bladder, there may be pain during urination.

To overcome the lack of cervical cancer symptoms, preventative screening is used to diagnose the cancer at its earliest stages. The earliest stages of cervical cancer development can be detected by a Pap smear (Papanicolaou test), which is done by gynecologists during a regular pelvic exam to determine if any changes have occurred in the cervical epithelium, an indicator of cancer development. After the Pap smear was developed in the 1950s, the rate of cervical cancer decreased by 74%, according to the American Cancer Society, and the rate of cervical cancer still decreases by approximately 4% a year because of better treatments, detection, and education.

To be aware of when to be alert for the limited symptoms, it is important to understand who is at risk for cervical cancer. According to the American Cancer Society, cervical cancer rarely affects women under the age of 20. Most diagnoses occur in women between 35 and 55 years of age, the average age of cervical cancer patients is in the mid-forties, and nearly 20% of patients who are diagnosed with cervical cancer are over the age of 65. The 5-year relative survival rate for the earliest stage of invasive cervical cancer is 92%, making it one of the more treatable cancers. The overall survival rate of all stages is about 72%. Risk factors for the development of cervical cancer include the use of oral contraceptives, smoking, early sexual encounters, multiple sexual partners, and viruses such as human papillomavirus, the cause of genital warts.

Learn more about this author, Alicia M Prater PhD.
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