Women can reduce their risk of cervical cancer through vaccination and screening, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says.

Screening, HPV vaccine can prevent cervical cancer: FDA

CLICK HERE FOR FULL ARTICLE FROM Medical Xpress

In 2016, an estimated 13,000 women in the United States were diagnosed with cervical cancer and more than 4,100 died from the disease, according to the U.S. National Cancer Institute.

The FDA wants to make women aware of how to protect themselves from cervical cancer, which is caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV).

An FDA-approved vaccine called Gardasil 9 protects against 9 HPV types and can prevent about 90 percent of cervical, vulvar, vaginal and anal cancer cancers, and also protects against genital warts.  The vaccine is approved for use in females and males aged 9 to 26.

Gardasil 9 is not a treatment for HPV disease or cervical cancer, noted Marion Gruber, director of the FDA’s Office of Vaccines Research and Review.

“Women, including those who have been vaccinated, should continue to get Pap tests because they are essential to detect cervical cancer and precancerous changes,” she said in an FDA news release.

A Pap test (or smear) and HPV test are two ways to spot cervical cancer.  If abnormalities are detected on a Pap smear, follow-up testing may include another Pap smear, a HPV test and testing tissue via biopsy from the cervix.

Cervical cancer often causes no pain, which means a woman can have cervical cancer and not know it.  That makes testing for the disease that much more important.  The earlier the cancer is detected, the easier it is to treat, the FDA said.

More information:  The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more on cervical cancer.

×

Upcoming Events

Attending any of these upcoming events? Have other events to share? Let us know! Email us at NNN@ITCMI.ORG to share your event information or to get on our list serve for event updates.

 

NIHB presents National Tribal Health Conference | Sheraton Grand at Wildhorse Pass in Chandler, Arizona | LEARN MORE AND REGISTER

75 Years Later:  The Impact of the 1950 Papers on Smoking and Lung Cancer | This symposium will celebrate the achievements that have occurred over the past 75 years in the fields of tobacco control, lung cancer epidemiology and causal inference.  Two seminal papers on lung cancer and smoking initiated these three areas of scholarship in 1950.  Since then, significant public health, policy, and research contributions have been made by scholars around the world.  In this symposium, speakers will highlight such accomplishments and present their current research in these fields. | DOWNLOAD FLIER | REGISTER HERE

Association of American Indian Physicians 53rd Annual Meeting | Hyatt Regency Seattle in Seattle, Washington | LEARN MORE AND REGISTER

National Lung Cancer Screening Day | Now in its fourth year, this initiative is kpowered by a dynamic collaboration among the American Cancer Society's National Lung Cancer Roundtable, GO2 for Lung Cancer, the Radiology Health Equity Coalition, and the American College of Radiology. | LEARN MORE