Cervical cancer: There’s an app for that
by darla carter February 7, 2012 12:19PM
Symptoms and risk factors
Women with early cervical cancer usually don’t have symptoms. The following signs may arise when the cancer grows larger, but you could have a completely different problem. See your doctor to find out for sure.
† Abnormal vaginal bleeding. (This includes bleeding that occurs between regular menstrual periods; bleeding after sexual intercourse, douching or a pelvic exam; menstrual periods that last longer and are heavier than before; bleeding after going through menopause.)
† Increased vaginal discharge.
† Pelvic pain.
† Pain during sex.
Risk factors for the disease:
† Failure to have regular Pap tests can increase your risk of cervical cancer, so ask your doctor how often you should be screened. (Guidelines comparison chart: www.cdc.gov/cancer/cervical/pdf/guidelines.pdf)
Other possible risk factors:
† Giving birth to many children.
† Having many sexual partners.
† Having first sexual intercourse at a young age.
† Smoking cigarettes.
† Using oral contraceptives.
† Having a weakened immune system.
Source: National Cancer Institute
When Mary Jo Payne hears about efforts to educate the public about cervical cancer, she thinks back to her own encounter with the disease at age 38.
Payne had surgery that lasted seven hours or more to remove the organs in her pelvic area, including her bladder and her rectum. That was in the mid-1980s — years before the federal approval of HPV vaccines to prevent cervical cancer.
“If I had the chance to have that shot I would do it without question to prevent anyone from going through this,” said Payne.
Now a Facebook application is being used to raise awareness about cervical cancer and ways to possibly avoid it, such as screening and vaccination.
The app is part of the Cervical Cancer-Free Kentucky Initiative’s “Cause the Movement” campaign, which promotes education as well as prevention.
The Facebook application, which can be found at causethemovement.org, incorporates pictures of users’ Facebook pals into an educational video on cervical cancer.
“Their friends’ and family’s faces will actually come up into the video” to personalize the subject, said Dr. Baretta R. Casey, director of the initiative.
Cervical cancer tends to affect women older than 30, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nationally, there will be 12,170 new cases this year, and 4,220 deaths, according to the National Cancer Institute.
The most common cause of cervical cancer is sexually transmitted human papillomavirus (HPV). The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved two vaccines — Gardasil by Merck and Cervarix by GlaxoSmithKline — that protect against the HPV types that typically cause the disease.
“Right now, this is the only vaccine on the market that can prevent a cancer,” said Casey. “If we had a vaccine that could prevent breast cancer, or prostate cancer for that matter, I truly believe that people would be lined up saying, ‘Where’s my vaccine?’ ”
Though it’s hoped that vaccination eventually will reduce cervical cancer rates, there are some HPV types that the shots don’t protect against, so “screening is still very important,” said Dr. Kimberly Bernard, an obstetrician/gynecologist with Norton OB-GYN Associates.
Gannett News Service
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