WHAT IS CANCER OF THE CERVIX?

By

DR. MRS. Meenal Kumar, M.D. senior gynecologist and menopause consultant, sector 20 civil dispensary, Chandigarh

DR.R.KUMAR M.S., OPHTHALMOLOGIST AND HEALTH COLUMNIST, 232, SECTOR 16, CHANDIGARH

Cancer of the cervix (cervical cancer) is the leading cause of cancer amongst women in India.  It is caused by the uncontrolled growth of cells in the cervix. The cervix is the narrowed lower portion of a woman’s uterus. Shaped like a cone, it connects the upper portion of the uterus to the vagina and is the “gateway” of the birth canal. Cervical cancer begins slowly, with precancerous changes in the cells lining the inside or outside of the cervix; these changes are generally termed “atypical cells.” If left untreated, these atypical cells may go on to a full blown, invasive cancer.  Most cases are the result of an infection. About 80-90% of cervical cancers are squamous cell carcinomas, occurring in the flat squamous cells that cover the outside of the cervix. Some other cases are adenocarcinomas, rising from mucus-producing gland cells of the inner side (the opening of the cervix inwards). A few cervical cancers are mixtures of both types.

With early detection, cervical cancer is usually easily treatable. Left unchecked, however, it is almost always fatal. Given time, the cervical cancer can spread (metastasize) to rest of the uterus, the bladder, the rectum, and the abdominal wall. Eventually, it reaches the pelvic lymph nodes and metastasizes. Cervical cancer cells can then invade other organs throughout the body. Invasive cervical cancer is a very common disease in India, since the Pap screening program is not being successfully carried out in this country. In advanced countries with the introduction of the Papanicolaou (Pap) smear, a screening tool that allows the detection of cancerous and precancerous changes in the cervix, rates of cervical cancer have dropped by as much as 70%. In developing nations without screening programs, however, cervical cancer is still a very serious concern. Cervical cancer continues to be the second most common type of cancer in women worldwide and number one in India.

LIFE STYLE FACTORS:

Many persons live in a dangerous life style regarding their habits of food, exercise, entertainment, procreation, sexual relations etc. They prefer to violate the norms with impunity on the one hand and believe in indulging uncalled for adventurism on the other. With the result they fall pray to serious ailments. Even at this stage they continue to defy the advice of their doctors and other well informed and well meaning friends.  Doctors have identified certain risk factors that increase the chance that cells in the cervix will become abnormal or cancerous. Initiation of sexual intercourse before age 18, many sexual partners, early age of marriage, first pregnancy at an early age, four or more number of pregnancies and women with poor personal hygiene, have an increased risk of cervical cancer. Women who have had many sexual partners or whose partners have had many sexual partners may have an increased risk of cervical cancer at least in part because they are more likely to get a sexually transmitted virus. Sexuality is the hottest topic, which has deeply permeated in the minds and bodies of our youth and in others who have crossed the barriers of youth hood long ago. The present generation has come to understand that promiscuity is the peak of enjoyment, without considering the dangers and risks involved. No surprise that 25% of this category of playboys and playgirls are already infected with AIDS and many more with other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and viral infections. Scientists believe that some of these viruses may cause the growth of abnormal cells in the cervix and may play a role in cancer development. In several studies co-relation of early sexual activity and contact with multiple partners has been uniformly established. Those who smoke or indulge in any other kind of drug abuse are also more prone to suffer. Though such cancers are far more common in the menopausal zone, early sexual activity and co-habitation with several partners can cause this cancer very early, may be in late teens or early twenties. Though nicotine or other toxic substances themselves are not carcinogenic to the cervix, these do lower the immunity of the body systems and predispose to increased infections and cell cha

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