99.7% of cases caused by persistent papillomavirus (HPV) infection, which can be prevented with the vaccine in Italy offered free to 12-year-old males and females. But also useful in adults. Pap smears and HPV tests discover pre-cancerous lesions
Cervical cancer could disappear completely thanks to the vaccine against the Papillomavirus or HPV, which is the main culprit, but in Italy and in the rest of the world the opportunity is still too little exploited. Thus the numbers of this neoplasm remain important: every year there are 600 thousand new diagnoses globally and over half of women, about 340 thousand, die. Mortality rates are particularly high in low-income countries, where both vaccines and screening for early detection through Pap smears and HPV-DNA tests are much less common, which can detect precancerous lesions that can thus be eliminated earlier. which evolve into cancer. Precisely to raise awareness on the importance of prevention, the ACTO association (Alliance against ovarian cancer) has accepted the invitation of the International Gynecological Cancer Society to promote a social campaign dedicated to this cancer throughout the month of January.
The vaccine before the age of 12 (but also for adults)
In our country, cervical cancer still represents the fifth most frequent cancer in young women under the age of 50, with about 2,400 new diagnoses registered every year. Statistics in hand, 99.7% of cases caused by persistent papillomavirus (HPV) infection for which there is a vaccine offered free, in Italy, to 12-year-old males and females. Hp infection, sexually transmitted, is the necessary condition for a process of carcinogenesis to begin in the cervix, even if the infection alone is not sufficient to determine the onset of cervical cancer. HPV infection is very common, while invasive cervical cancer is rare, this is because in most cases there is spontaneous regression of the infection. With our campaign we want to remember both the importance of screening to arrive at an early diagnosis and of the HPV vaccination especially in the youth groups – underlines Nicoletta Cerana, nation president of Acto -. HPV vaccination is especially effective if carried out before the start of sexual activity and therefore the risk of contagion. Most of the Italian Regions also provide for the subsidized payment for other age groups that are not among those to which it is offered free of charge. Several studies, in fact, show that it makes sense to get immunized even for those up to 45 years of age because the monavalent vaccine is also protective against genital warts and various types of male and female cancers.
Pap test and Hpv-Dna test to intercept precancerous lesions
Screening controls for early diagnosis are able to identify those abnormalities that could lead to the onset of a neoplasm (changes in the cells of the cervix before they become cancerous). They include the Pap test, always offered free of charge every 3 years to women between the ages of 25 and 30, and the test for HPV-Dna, offered every 5 years to women between the ages of 30 and 64. If discovered in the early stages, this type of cancer can be treated less invasively and successfully, allowing patients to heal completely – Cerana recalls -. In addition to the vaccine and screening checks, which save life, it is necessary to pay attention to symptoms such as abnormal loss or bleeding not related to the menstrual cycle, pain in the pelvis or back, sudden weight loss. In these cases, it is best to always speak to a gynecologist without delaying too much. On our website all important information on cancer, prevention, diagnosis and treatment and on centers with more experience are available.In recent months, thanks to the progress of research, new therapies have also been approved for women who have very difficult cervical cancer to be treated: which recurs despite treatment, which resists treatment or which has already reached the metastatic stage, spreading to other organs. Important benefits have been achieved with immunotherapy (pembrolizumab and cemiplimab) and significantly prolonged patient survival.
January 18, 2022 (change January 18, 2022 | 11:19)
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