What You Need To Know About…Cervical Cancer

With proper screening and vaccination, the hope is that cervical cancer could one day be a thing of the past. Here’s our guide to the signs and symptoms

- Clare Swatman

It’s unlikely that going for a smear test is top of your favourite-ways-to-spend-halfan-hour list. But the stark truth is, it could save your life.

Every year, over 3,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer in the UK – it’s the second most common cancer after breast cancer. However, if caught in the early stages, when cells might be abnormal but not yet cancerous, it can be treated much more easily, and your chances of surviving it are high.

From 18 to 24 January this year, the cervical cancer charity Jo’s Trust are launching Cervical Cancer Prevention Week, with the aim of making women aware of the signs as well as encouraging them to go for screening.

‘Our main aim is to prevent cervical cancer, and one of the best ways of doing that is to remind people of the symptoms to look out for, as well as the importance of vaccination and screening,’ says Rebecca Shoosmith, deputy chief executive of Jo’s Trust.

WE GIVE YOU THE FACTS...

Cervical cancer: what causes it?

Almost all cases of cervical cancer are caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV), a group of viruses, 15 of which most commonly cause cervical cancer – although two in particular, HPV 16 and HPV 18, pose the highest risk. Many women will contract HPV at some point in their lives, but in the vast majority of cases, it doesn’t lead to cervical cancer. It can be caught through sex, skin-to-skin contact of the genital area or sharing sex toys. It can take between 10 and 20 years for HPV to develop into cancer.

HPV vaccination