NBC News
Cervical cancer is one of the most preventable, although recent research suggests that the United States has retreated in the detection of the disease in its initial stages, when it is more curable.
A new study shows that the percentage of women who underwent cervical cancer detection tests decreased from 47% in 2019 to 41% in 2023.
Rural women are 25% more likely to be diagnosed and 42% more likely to die from cervical cancer than women living in cities, a trend that is probably a reflection of the lowest detection rates in less populated areas, according to the study published this month in Jama Network Open magazine.
Every year, 13,000 women in the United States are diagnosed with cervical cancer, which is almost always caused by human papillomavirus (HPV). Approximately 4,320 die every year, according to the American Cancer Society.
Cervical cancer rates have been increasing among women aged 30 and 40, perhaps because women between 21 and 29 are the ones who are less likely to be up to date with their detection tests, with 29% behind.
Cervical cancer takes several years to develop, progressing from abnormal cellular changes and predicts before transforming into cancer. Studies show that women also are less likely to have detection tests if they are not white, do not have medical insurance or identify as homosexuals, lesbians or bisexuals.
HPV vaccines are safe and can prevent 90% of cervical cancers. However, vaccine resistance, which protects against carcinogenic strains from sexually transmitted infection, has persisted since its approval almost 20 years ago. The Secretary of Health, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has belittled them for considering them dangerous, linking them with autoimmune and mental diseases.
On March 10, a federal judge of North Carolina dismissed the legal demands that alleged that the HPV vaccine, marketed by Merck as Gardasil, could cause certain medical conditions in patients.
Another demand that alleges that Gardasil causes serious side effects has been suspended until September due to Kennedy’s participation in the case. While Kennedy revealed in a statement of ethics that he would receive fees for referring to one of the law firm who sued Merck, later said he would deliver any gain to his son.
The reluctance to vaccinate has prevented many parents from immunicating their daughters. Only 61% of adolescents are up to date with all HPV vaccines, administered in a series of two or three injections according to age.
More than 42 million people in the country are carriers of at least one HPV strain that can cause disease, such as genital warts or cancer, and 47,000 a year are diagnosed with malignant neoplasm related to HPV. However, investigations have revealed a decrease in awareness of HPV’s relationship with various types of cancer, such as cervix, throat and anal.
With so many people at risk, we ask experts to help us clarify the confusion about vaccination and HPV detection tests.
How often should women take the cervical cancer test?
The American Cancer Society recommends that women be carried out a primary HPV test every five years between 25 and 65 years. If HPV primary test is not available, society recommends combining HPV test with a Pap smear test every five years or a pap sample test alone every three years.
How have vaccines against HPV affected the cervical and presencer cancer rates?
Among women aged 20 to 24 – which met the requirements to receive the HPV vaccine in adolescence -, the incidence of cervical predicts was reduced almost 80 % between 2008 and 2002, according to the centers for disease control and prevention (CDC). The incidence decreased 65% between 2012 and 2019 among women under 25 years. Cervical cancer mortality rates in the same age group decreased 62% between 2013-2015 and 2019-2021.
How common is HPV?
HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States. Among sexually active people, more than 90% of men and 80% of women contract HPV throughout their lives. Approximately half of HPV infections are due to high -risk strains. In addition to cervical cancer, HPV can cause vagina, vulva, anus, penis and neck cancer.
Given the frequency of these viruses, no one should be ashamed to know that he has HPV, said Dr. Rebecca Perkins, Gynecologist-Obstetra and researcher at the Women’s Research Institute, the mother and the baby of the Tufts Medical Center. “We need to reduce the stigma associated with a positive test,” Perkins concluded.
What does it mean if a high -risk HPV sample test?
Although there are more than 200 types of HPV, only a few cause cancer. These types are known as high -risk strains and are included in routine cervical cancer detection tests, since they have the most probability of causing cancer, according to Dr. Verda Hicks, president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. “If a HPV test positive for HPV at high risk, it indicates an active infection that increases the risk of developing predicts or cancer,” Hicks explained.
Does a high -risk HPV infection increase the risk of cancer?
No. The immune system eliminates most HPV infections in one or two years, Hicks said. Most people with high -risk HPV experience short -term infections that cause minor changes in cervical cells, which are normalized once the infection disappears.
Doctors care more if a person positively gives high -risk HPV test for more than two years, since persistent infections can cause the development of a predict or cancer. Approximately 1% of people with HPV develop a “long -term chronic infection” and even less develop cervical cancer, Hicks said.
“Women should not be alarmed” just by having HPV at high risk, Hicks said. A positive result in the test “means that the detection process is working. It is identifying someone who possibly has a persistent infection.”
Perform routine detection tests and any recommended monitoring test allows doctors to detect these changes early, when they are easier to treat, Perkins explained.
That is why it is essential not to skip any review, he concluded.
“The more time a person with HPV positive is maintained, the greater the risk” to develop cancer, Perkins said.
How common are high -risk HPV infections?
Among women who undergo detection tests for the first time between 20 and 30 years, up to 20 % discover that they have HPV at high risk, according to Dr. Mark Einstein, professor of obstetrics, gynecology and female health at the Albert Einstein Medicine College.
What should people do with high -risk HPV infections?
There is no universal recipe for people with high -risk HPV, said Hicks, who said doctors adapt their advice to each person, depending on various risk factors.
While people with high -risk HPVs should not panic, they must take the result seriously, follow your doctor’s advice and attend the recommended follow -up visits, he added. These visits allow doctors to search for abnormal cells, which can be removed before they become cancer.
Can people vaccinated against HPV give positive?
Yes. This is because the original vaccines against HPV, approved for children and adolescents in 2006, protected against the two most dangerous viral strains, which together cause 70% of cervical cancers, as well as against two strains that cause genital warts. While the first HPV vaccines were very effective, vaccinated people could infect with one of the strains that cause the remaining 30% of cervical cancers, Perkins explained. HPV vaccines now updated against nine strains of the virus and against 90% of cervical and anal cancers, as well as against most strains that cause mouth and throat cancer.
Can you get positive in the HPV high risk test years after having infected?
Yes. A positive HPV test does not necessarily reflect a recent infection.
Although the immune system usually controls HPV effectively, the virus does not disappear from the body. HPV can sometimes be reactivated, especially if a person’s immune system has been under pressure due to a disease or certain medications, Perkins explained.
“We observe reactivations in women who have not had sexual activity in 10 years,” Perkins said. “It is simply a consequence that the virus escapes the immune system. It should never be divorced by a diagnosis of HPV.”
In a way, HPV is similar to chickenpox virus, which can be hidden in nerve cells for decades before reactivating and cause a painful condition called Herpes Zóster.
“It does not matter if the infection is old or recent; even so, it is necessary to track,” Perkins said.
Is there cure for HPV?
There is no cure for the virus itself. Health professionals can remove abnormal growth in the cervix, as well as genital warts.
