Regular Exams and Vaccination: Key Strategies for Cervical Cancer Prevention
The color of the moment is lilac! The Lilac March campaign aims to inform the population about the dangers of cervical cancer, the third most common cancer affecting women in Brazil. Jesus Paula Carvalho, professor at the USP Faculty of Medicine and head of the Gynecological Oncology team at the Cancer Institute of the State of São Paulo, explains more about prevention and vaccination against this disease.
What causes
According to the professor, cervical cancer, also called cervical cancer, affects more than 17 thousand women and people with a vulva each year in Brazil. Of these, 7 thousand die as a result of cancer. The professor explains the main cause of cancer:
“The disease, which is located in the cervix, which is the part of the uterus that is exposed in the vagina, is due to infection by a virus or a family of viruses called human papillomavirus or HPV. Mainly HPV numbers 16 and 18, but there are several others that also cause cancer.”
Importance of early detection
Jesus Paula Carvalho says that one of the great dangers of cervical cancer is that it develops asymptomatically, until the final stages: “It is a treacherous disease, because it progresses silently until the advanced stages, when only then does it occur. symptoms. Even this period develops silently, but it can be avoided through vaccines and preventive exams.”
The infection can be detected through HPV tests or gynecological exams, the Pap smear. If detected early, cancer has a 100% cure rate. However, in the advanced stages, the treatment becomes much more complex, requiring radiotherapy, and the chance of success drops significantly.
Therefore, it is important to carry out screening tests frequently. The World Health Organization stipulates that they must be done twice a year.
Vaccine and eradication
The specialist explains that the HPV virus is a well-known pathogen in the medical literature and that there is already an effective vaccine against it. So much so that cervical cancer could be eradicated within this century.
“ It is possible to eliminate this disease from the planet, we just need to take some measures. The WHO has defined three pillars: the first and most important of all is to ensure that at least 90% of girls receive the HPV vaccination. This vaccine must be given between the ages of 9 and 14, before they have any sexual activity. The second pillar is to ensure that at least 70% of women take at least two screening tests. The third pillar would be to ensure that these lesions that are detected receive adequate treatment”, concludes gynecologist Jesus Paula Carvalho.
It is worth remembering that, although cervical cancer obviously does not affect people without a uterus, it is important that boys also get vaccinated. In addition to being transmission vectors for women, HPV can lead to other complications, including penile cancer. Vaccines save lives!