When I was much younger, an OB told me that cervical cancer is directly caused by a particular sexually transmitted disease. Virgins need not worry about cervical cancer and also do not need the annual Pap exam since the Pap test is exclusively used to detect that particular STD.

I didn’t know research was being done for a possible vaccine for the STD or cervical cancer, but apparently they’re getting close to having one.

The drug, which targets the virus that causes cancer of the cervix in women, could almost eradicate the disease, say researchers.

[...]

Cervical cancer affects some 470,000 women a year and survival chances are good if the disease is detected and treated early.

The findings, published in the The Lancet Oncology, put pharmaceutical giants Merck & Co Inc ahead in the race to market the world’s first anti-cancer vaccine. It could be on the market in two years.

What this says to me is, “Hey, don’t worry about your promiscuity. We have a vaccine to cover you!”

Courtesy: Outside the Beltway

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1. That’s interesting.  I was always under the impression that that particular virus was *a* cause of cervical cancer, not *the* cause.  Huh.  Fascinating.

   Posted by Deb  on  04/07/05  at  10:46 AM

2. Well, I don’t think my doc would have intentionally misled me. She definitely said it was THE cause. And she was very specific about the lack of need for pap tests unless you’re sexually active.

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  04/07/05  at  10:53 AM

3. I don’t think she would have, either, which is why that’s so interesting.  I wonder if I’m just misinformed or if the misinformation is more general.  Hence the “huh.”  That’s sure as heck the sort of thing that people should know, you know?

   Posted by Deb  on  04/07/05  at  12:24 PM

4. After I saw your comment, I did a little research. What I saw at the National Cervical Cancer something-or-other page (and no link, sorry!) was vague enough to lead me to believe that my doc is correct. I think that some in the medical profession are loathe to just outright state that a form of cancer is directly linked to a specific STD (HPV), just in case.

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  04/07/05  at  12:31 PM

5. Jen, I actually asked my doctor about it last year after our conversation on the subject. She sort of agreed. Told me that it was very unlikely to get it, but that you should still have the test at least every 3 years or so, instead of every year.

   Posted by Ith  on  04/07/05  at  01:10 PM

6. Ith, the website I was looking at today said every 3 years is the standard recommendation for the Pap now. And I’m glad to know your doctor confirmed my info. I was starting to doubt my memory.

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  04/07/05  at  02:12 PM

7. Thanks, gals!  Jen, I think you’re right that they just don’t want to state anything categorically…probably a better-safe-than-sorry thing.  It’s nice to know that the link is pretty much definitive, though.

   Posted by Deb  on  04/07/05  at  03:08 PM

8. Here’s the thing, though.  The Pap checks for pre-cancerous and cancerous cells.  There are any number of other ways to get cervical cancer via genetic predispostion or a rogue cell. You can also have the HPV virus on other parts of your body (it can live in the mouth, nose, etc. as well)and have it transfer.  My doctor told me that any adult woman should have a yearly pelvic exam to check for other problems, and that even virgins and sexually inactive women should have a pap test every three years (after a first clear test) to rule out cancer because cervical cancer has no symptoms until it’s nearly too late in many cases.

   I’m pretty serious about this because a friend in high school (a 16 YO virgin at the time) lost her uterus and ovaries to cervical cancer and ovarian cysts.  She was lucky her dr. insisted on an exam once she turned 16.

   Posted by caltechgirl  on  04/07/05  at  04:26 PM

9. What you say about cancer in general is true. However, the whole thing came up with my doctor because I went for an exam at age 30 after a long while since the last (first) one. She asked about my history and was very specific that as long as I had a normal baseline Pap, no other was needed until I was sexually active.

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  04/07/05  at  04:35 PM

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