Cypress Sun - News
Doctor: Early detection and treatment of HPV can help women avoid cervical cancer
By VALERIE JONES
According to the American Cancer Society, it’s estimated that about 11,070 cases of invasive cervical cancer were diagnosed in 2008, with 3,870 women dying from the disease.
Doctors say regular check-ups and tests mixed with education and healthy lifestyles are the best ways to avoid some cancers. January marks Cervical Health Awareness Month and a local doctor is spreading the word about cervical cancer.
“A vast majority, about 90 percent, of cervical cancer is associated with Human Papillomavirus (HPV), which is a sexually transmitted virus,” said Nicolas Xydas, OB/GYN at Houston Northwest Medical Center. “To help prevent cervical cancer, it’s important to catch the presence of HPV early.”
Xydas said there are several ways to avoid contracting HPV.
“People with multiple sexual partners are more likely to get infected, so women should be careful with their selection of sexual partners, be in a monogamous relationship, use condoms and have their partner get screened before having a sexual relationship,” he said.
Xydas also recommended the new Guardasil vaccine, but stressed it won’t work on a person who has already contracted HPV.
“Annual pap smears can detect the disease early, so that it can be treated before it progresses and becomes cancer,” Xydas said. “The virus attacks the cells on the cervix, the cells become abnormal, leading to different stages of dysplasia and then they become cancerous.”
Xydas said women of reproductive age are usually diagnosed with cervical cancer.
He said the Thin Prep Pap Test is what many doctors are using now to better detect HPV. He also added that a woman can have a normal pap smear and still have HPV.
“Certain strains of HPV are associated with cervical cancer, for example, strains 16 and 18,” Xydas said. “A woman can go to the gynecologist and request a pap smear with HPV DNA. If the test comes back HPV- positive, the results can tell you if it’s a high-risk strain.”
Xydas said doctors will look at the cervix on a microscope, then do a biopsy of the exocervix to see what the stage of dysplasia is. Treatments for removing a targeted area of cells include cryotherapy (freezing of the cells), Loop Electrosurgical Excision Procedure (LEEP), cone biopsy (cone-shaped piece of abnormal tissue is removed) or a simple hysterectomy (removal of cells, cervix and uterus).
Xydas said treatment for cervical cancer is a radical hysterectomy, which removes the cancer, cervix, uterus, part of the vagina and lymph nodes in the area.
Doctors say regular check-ups and tests mixed with education and healthy lifestyles are the best ways to avoid some cancers. January marks Cervical Health Awareness Month and a local doctor is spreading the word about cervical cancer.
“A vast majority, about 90 percent, of cervical cancer is associated with Human Papillomavirus (HPV), which is a sexually transmitted virus,” said Nicolas Xydas, OB/GYN at Houston Northwest Medical Center. “To help prevent cervical cancer, it’s important to catch the presence of HPV early.”
Xydas said there are several ways to avoid contracting HPV.
“People with multiple sexual partners are more likely to get infected, so women should be careful with their selection of sexual partners, be in a monogamous relationship, use condoms and have their partner get screened before having a sexual relationship,” he said.
Xydas also recommended the new Guardasil vaccine, but stressed it won’t work on a person who has already contracted HPV.
“Annual pap smears can detect the disease early, so that it can be treated before it progresses and becomes cancer,” Xydas said. “The virus attacks the cells on the cervix, the cells become abnormal, leading to different stages of dysplasia and then they become cancerous.”
Xydas said women of reproductive age are usually diagnosed with cervical cancer.
He said the Thin Prep Pap Test is what many doctors are using now to better detect HPV. He also added that a woman can have a normal pap smear and still have HPV.
“Certain strains of HPV are associated with cervical cancer, for example, strains 16 and 18,” Xydas said. “A woman can go to the gynecologist and request a pap smear with HPV DNA. If the test comes back HPV- positive, the results can tell you if it’s a high-risk strain.”
Xydas said doctors will look at the cervix on a microscope, then do a biopsy of the exocervix to see what the stage of dysplasia is. Treatments for removing a targeted area of cells include cryotherapy (freezing of the cells), Loop Electrosurgical Excision Procedure (LEEP), cone biopsy (cone-shaped piece of abnormal tissue is removed) or a simple hysterectomy (removal of cells, cervix and uterus).
Xydas said treatment for cervical cancer is a radical hysterectomy, which removes the cancer, cervix, uterus, part of the vagina and lymph nodes in the area.
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