• It is the 2nd most common cancer affecting women. ¹
• Each year, about 500,000 women worldwide are diagnosed with cervical cancer and more than 270,000 die from it. ¹
• Cervical cancer is caused by a common virus known as human papillomavirus (HPV).
• Regardless of age, all females risk exposure to the HPV virus as it can spread via skin contact and sexual intercourse.³
• Early sexual experience increases risk of cervical cancer. ⁴
• Women who smoke are 2 times more at risk than non-smokers. ²
• High number of pregnancies increases risk. ⁵
• Usage of contraceptives is a factor of cervical cancer. ⁵
• Sexually transmitted infections like Chlamydia, Herpes may cause cervical cancer. ²
• Pap smear was introduced in 1943 to detect possible cancer causing cells in the cervix. ⁷
• Pap smears can detect pre-cancerous and abnormal cells but it does not prevent the cause of abnormal cells and cervical cancer. ⁸
• Regular Pap smear tests decreases a woman’s chances of developing cervical cancer by 5 times. ⁹

References

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2. Bosch FX, Lorinez A, Munoz N et al. The casual relation between human papillomavirus and cervical cancer. J Clin Pathol 2002; 55: 244-65
3. Baseman JG,Koutsky LA.The epidemiology of human papillomavirus infections. J Clin Virol 2005; 32 Suppl 1:S16-24
4. Biswas LN, Manna B, Maiti PK, Sengupta S. Sexual risk for cervical cancer among rural Indian women: a case-control study. Int J Epidemiol 1997; 26: 491-495
5. Hinkula M, Pukkala E, Kyyronen P, Laukkanen P, Koskela P, Paavonen J, Lehtinen M, Kauppila A. A population-based study on the risk of cervical cancer and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia among grand multiparous women in Finland. Br J cancer 2004; 90:1025-1029
6. Castellsague X, Munoz N. Chapter 3: Cofactors in human papillomavirus carcinogenesis-role of parity, oral contraceptives, and tobacco smoking. J Natl Cancer Inst Monogr 2003; 20-28
7. Leroy, N. Cervical Dysplasia. Chicago’s Progressive Health Centre. Available at http://www.drnick.net/index.php?catID=1&pageID=3421. Accessed on February 2009.
8. Chew GK, Cruickshank ME, Rooney PH et al. Human papilomavirus 16 infection in adenocarcinoma of the cervix, British Journal of Cancer 2005; 93:1301-1304
9. Schiller J and Davies P. Delivering on the promise: HPV vaccines and cervical cancer. Nat Rev Microbiol 2004; 2:343-347