Above is a map showing levels of cervical cancer in the world. The darker areas have the higher occurrences of the disease.
“It doesn’t harm you in any way to take 15 minutes out of your life, just to be sure,” Jenn Morkemo, a senior majoring in pre-med said.
“It is easier to take care of if it is caught early and will be simpler to treat if it doesn’t get too far out of hand.” These 15 minutes simply entail going to a physician and getting a Pap smear to check for cervical cancer.
January has been dubbed cervical cancer awareness month and women are encouraged to get tested. Every year in the United States, approximately 12,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer, and roughly 4,000 women will die from it. However, if caught early, the five-year survival rate is nearly 100 percent, according to Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains.
Cervical cancer is caused by a common sexually transmitted infection, human papilloma virus. When a woman is exposed to the virus, her immune system typically prevents the virus from doing serious harm but, in some women, the virus stays in the body, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Eventually, the virus mutates the surface cells of the cervix into cancerous cells. The best way to detect the malignant cells is a Pap smear that removes cells from the lining of the cervix.
Molly Adami, Outreach Coordinator for Laramie Reproductive Health, encourages women between the ages of 21 to 29 to get tested every three years.
“One in two sexually active women will get a strain of HPV in their life time,” Adami said. “There are hundreds of strains of the virus and a Pap smear searches for 13 specific strains that can cause cervical cancer.”
There is no way to completely prevent cervical cancer, but women can take steps to reduce the likelihood of contraction by getting regular Pap smears and vaccinations against the virus. The three shot series, Guardasil, fights certain strains of HPV but this does not prevent cervical cancer.
“Guardasil only protects against two strains of HPV, not all of them, Adami said. “Women still need to be tested.”
