 |
| Source Image: Pinterest |
Cervical cancer is one of the deadliest diseases that has often attacked many women around the world. Based on data from the Ministry of Health, cervical cancer cases in Indonesia rank second in the most cancer cases, with a total of 36,633 cases or equivalent to 9.2% of the total cancer cases overall.
This disease causes the growth of cancer cells in the cervix area and will continue to develop over time. With so many cases of cervical cancer in Indonesia, unfortunately not many people can prevent this disease and often come to the doctor when the tumor / cancer cells have grown in malignant and severe conditions.
So the question arises whether there are ways that can be done to anticipate and prevent this disease before it gets worse? Here is the explanation.
What Causes Cervical Cancer ?
Cervical cancer is caused by infection with the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) virus. The HPV virus is now known to cause gene mutations that lead to the growth of tumor cells that can eventually develop into cervical cancer.
Some factors that can increase the risk of people being more easily infected are genetics / heredity, age (40 years and over), unhealthy lifestyles such as smoking, to the woman's own health condition.
In addition, a person can be more susceptible to being infected with the virus if under certain conditions, such as frequently changing sexual partners, being exposed to sexually transmitted disease infections, and not getting the HPV vaccine.
What do Cervical Cancer Patients Feel ?
There are several symptoms that can be felt by people with cervical cancer in the early stages of the disease. These symptoms are not always felt and may vary from person to person:
- Abnormal vaginal bleeding.
- Irregular menstrual cycle.
- Pain in the lower pelvic area.
- Unusual vaginal discharge (such as having an unpleasant odor).
- Unusual vaginal fluid production (odor, bleeding, etc.).
- Feeling tired easily.
Can Cervical Cancer be Cured ?
Just like other cancers, cervical cancer also has a chance to be cured if found at an early stage. The sooner you discover the potential of cervical cancer, the higher your success rate will be.
In cases of cervical cancer, each stage is known to have a percentage level of survival rate. The percentage rate indicates patients who are still alive 5 years after being diagnosed with cervical cancer at a certain stage.
In the early stages, the life expectancy rate is 91%, which means 91% of people are still alive after 5 years of being diagnosed with cervical cancer in the early stages. Likewise, with life expectancy in the middle to late stages, where if the cancer has spread to nearby organ tissue or lymph nodes, the life expectancy rate is further reduced to 60%, and if it has spread to distant parts of the body, the life expectancy rate drops to 19%.
Cervical Cancer Treatment
There are several types of cervical cancer treatment available today. Each treatment has its own effectiveness and side effects:
- Surgical removal: which is surgery performed when the cancer is still in the early stages or is still benign. Surgical removal procedures are performed in the hope of stopping the growth of cancer that is still small and has not spread.
- Radiotherapy: is a type of treatment that uses high-energy radiation rays to kill and prevent cancer cells that have grown in the body from spreading and getting worse.
- Chemotherapy: is a type of treatment using special drugs to kill and prevent cancer cells from spreading. Although it has a wider reach than radiotherapy, chemotherapy also leaves a wider range of side effects compared to radiotherapy.
- Targeted Therapy: This is a type of cancer treatment that uses drugs or other substances to precisely identify specific cancer cells and prevent them from growing worse.
- Proton Beam Therapy: this is the most advanced type of cancer treatment currently available. Using proton beams, this treatment can reduce the side effects commonly experienced with radiotherapy, while still being equally effective in destroying cancer cells.
How to Detect Cervical Cancer ?
Detecting the early symptoms of cervical cancer may be a little difficult and is only felt when the tumor has grown. However, cervical cancer can now be detected early by doing a quick and effective examination on a regular basis, namely through a pap smear examination.
Pap smear is an examination method that is done to detect the presence of cells that could potentially become cervical cancer, the process can be done in a fairly short time, which is about 10 - 20 minutes.
The examination process works by the doctor taking tissue samples inside the cervix using a special spatula, in this process you may feel a little uncomfortable, but after completion the doctor will immediately store the sample in a special container and examine it in the laboratory.
After the collection process, you will usually be allowed to rest for a while and an appointment will be made to discuss the sample results if the results are out. If there is no indication of side effects after the examination then the doctor can immediately tell you to go home.
Can Cervical Cancer be Prevented ?
Small actions that you take from now on could change your future. By getting the HPV Gardasil 9 vaccine, you can already take early cervical cancer prevention measures. The HPV virus is the virus that causes cervical cancer, so by getting the vaccine early you can prevent the risk of developing cervical cancer in the future, especially if you have a history of cervical cancer in your family.
There are more than 100 HPV viruses that can infect our bodies, but only a few can infect and cause cervical cancer. Through the Gardasil 9 HPV vaccine, you can get a vaccine against HPV virus types 6, 11, 16, 18, 31, 33, 45, 52, and 58.
Thank you for reading this article. Have a nice day.
