Cervical Cancer

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Cervical cancer is the second foremost occurring cancer in women after breast cancer. Cervical cancer is a sexually transmitted disease caused by the human papillomavirus, or HPV. Infection by HPV typically occurs in the early years of sexual activity according to the World Health Organization (WHO), but it can take up to a full twenty years for it to develop into a full-blown malignant tumor. Scientists believe that for all intents and purposes all cervical cancer cases are caused by infection with a few types of cancer.

Great strides have been made in recent years in the development of a vaccine to treat the cervical cancer. Scientists have cultivated a prophylactic vaccine that would protect against the human papillomavirus. HPV’s role in generating cervical cancer was discovered in 1983. The WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), located in Lyon, France, has been in the forefront in epidemiological and laboratory studies needed to comprehend the disease. The IARC have chosen different methods, but the origins of most of them are based on genetically engineered Virus Like Particles (VLPs), composed of the outer structural proteins of HPV. These VLPs are not infectious or carcinogenic because they contain no DNA. Some factions are trying to produce the prophylactic vaccine alluded to earlier, while others are developing a therapeutic vaccine for individuals who are already infected. Still others are merging the two techniques. All of approaches have been presented with huge obstacles. Human papillomavirus cannot be replicated in cell culture, nor can it be transmitted to other animals, and human experimentation is limited given the carcinogenic nature of carcinogenic HPV’s that are entirely infectious. All attendees that participated at the WHO conference agreed that because of the diverse dynamic that are potentially at risk of cervical cancer that it is crucial that a prophylactic vaccine be made to targeted at a younger population that has yet to become sexually active.

The WHO also found it important that any vaccine would have to include representative people to guarantee international importance. According to researcher Luisa Lina Villa of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Sao Paulo, a potential vaccine would decrease the number of cases in developing countries . There is large discrepancy between developed countrie...

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...cancer is 78% in England and Wales 1991-95 (Cancer Survival, National Statistics)

Ø 5-year survival rate for women aged 60-69 with cervical cancer is 54% in England and Wales 1991-95 (Cancer Survival, National Statistics)

Ø 1-year survival rate for women aged 70-79 with cervical cancer is 65% in England and Wales 1991-95 (Cancer Survival, National Statistics)

Ø 5-year survival rate for women aged 70-79 with cervical cancer is 37% in England and Wales 1991-95 (Cancer Survival, National Statistics)

Ø 1-year survival rate for women aged 80-99 with cervical cancer is 49% in England and Wales 1991-95 (Cancer Survival, National Statistics)

Ø 5-year survival rate for women aged 80-99 with cervical cancer is 25% in England and Wales 1991-95 (Cancer Survival, National Statistics

In conclusion, cervical cancer, while a formidable opponent to anybody unfortunate enough to be battling it, can be prevented through both screenings and education to the demographic it affects the most: young women. With science making more and more advances every year in the field of oncology, it can be treated with a variety of procedures, both surgical and non-surgical.

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