Cervical Cancer Symptoms and Risks

Symptoms

• There are usually no symptoms of pre-cancerous cervical changes
• Late in the disease there can be vaginal discharge, bleeding or pain

Risk Factors

• Infection with Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), a virus transmitted through sex, is the most important risk factor for
  cervical cancer
• Early age of first intercourse
• Greater number of lifetime sexual partners
• Cigarette smoking

Statistics

• Each year 15,000 women in the U.S. are diagnosed with cervical cancer
• About 85% of women, older than 18, in Iowa have had a pap test in the last three years

Tests

• Pap tests can detect changes in the cervix before they become cancer
• Women should have a Pap test at least once every three years
• Pap tests should begin approximately three years after a woman begins having sexual intercourse, but no later than
  at 21 years old
• Women who have had a total hysterectomy (removal of the uterus and cervix) do not need to undergo Pap tests, unless the surgery was done as a treatment for precancerous cervical changes or cancer
• Women with abnormal pap tests often have a culposcopy done (this test uses an instrument like a microscope to carefully examine the cervix)