Invasive Cervical Cancer Symptoms

Invasive Cervical Cancer Symptoms

Is this song permanently lodged in your brain? Do the words “tell Someone” have new meaning? You have pharmaceutical company Merck to thank. Invasive Cervical Cancer SymptomsThese slogans are from its commercials aiming to raise awareness about the link between HPV and cervical cancer and Merck’s HPV vaccine, Gardasil.

Before this connection was discovered, we didn’t know what caused cervical cancer and the only way to know you had it was through a pap test. Kim, 43, was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 1993. throughout her treatment, there was no mention of HPV and it wasn’t until years later (after beating the cancer) that she realized the cause. “I didn’t even know HPV caused cervical cancer until I saw those commercials; my doctor didn’t even tell me when I had it,” Kim says. “I had never even heard of HPV until the commercials and I read an article about it and said, ‘oh, I guess that’s what I had.’”

Many women don’t know much about HPV until it affects them, even though as many as 80 percent will acquire HPV at some point in their lives.

In a 2005 Health Information National Trends Survey, only 40 percent of women respondents had heard of HPV and less than 20 percent knew it could lead to cervical cancer. think back to 2005, before the commercials worked into your consciousness, how much did you know about HPV? Probably nothing, which is scary, considering about 10 women die from cervical cancer in America everyday, according to the American Cancer Society.

There are women who develop cervical cancer who have only had one partner and women who have had several partners. Discovering the link between a virus and cervical cancer is extraordinary, but it shouldn’t lead people to believe those who develop cervical cancer were reckless with their sexual health. here are some facts about HPV and cervical cancer the 30 second TV commercials don’t include-but you should know:

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1. What are the ways I can get HPV? HPV can be contracted through almost any sexual contact, sometimes even oral sex. Condoms decrease the risk by about 70 percent, but since any genital contact can spread HPV, the skin not covered by a condom puts you at risk. most people with HPV show no symptoms. This means that practically anyone-from your husband to your one-night-stand-could pass along HPV.

2. What strains of HPV cause cervical cancer? There are about a hundred different types of HPV, but only a few cause cancer. most cases will clear up on their own with no treatment. Gardasil protects against types 16 and 18, which cause about 70 percent of cervical cancer cases, and types 6 and 11, which are responsible for about 90 percent of genital warts cases.

3. How can I protect myself against HPV and cervical cancer? Condoms can help protect against HPV and the Gardasil vaccine will be a big help against it as long as you don’t already have the strains that cause cervical cancer.

The American Cancer Society outlines other risk factors for catching HPV and developing cervical cancer as well. They include smoking (which weakens your immune system), having sex at an early age, many sexual partners, a partner who has had many partners, sex with uncircumcised males, HIV or Chlamydia, poor diet or family history of cervical cancer. Doctors say women will not develop cervical cancer without first contracting HPV, so the best line of defense is to not get HPV at all.

4. What’s the deal with the HPV vaccine? Gardasil was approved by the FDA for girls aged 9-26. They recommend getting vaccinated before you’re sexually active, since the longer you wait the more likely it is that you’ll already have HPV. the vaccine is given as three separate shots over six months and costs 0, not including the cost of the doctor’s office visit. most insurance companies cover the costs, but check before you are vaccinated. Merck also has a plan for qualified women to be vaccinated for free. so if you’re uninsured or your insurance doesn’t cover it, talk to your doctor about this program. many Planned Parenthood centers also carry Gardasil and the price will depend on your insurance coverage.

5. I’m over 26, can I still get vaccinated? as of right now, Gardasil is only approved for women aged 9-26, so your insurance company most likely won’t cover it if you are older than 26. further testing is being done for other age groups so in the future that might be expanded. Talk to your doctor if you are over 26 and still interested in being vaccinated to find out if he or she will vaccinate you.

6. I already have HPV, so Gardasil won’t help me, right? Actually, there are many strains of HPV, so, even if you know you already have it, talk to your doctor because you can still get protection from the other cancer-causing strains with Gardasil.

7. I’m only sleeping with one person. I don’t need to be vaccinated, do I? It’s not a bad idea. It’s entirely possible that your husband or boyfriend could pass HPV on to you from a previous relationship. also, I know we hate to think of these possibilities, but Gardasil can be helpful if your partner cheats on you or if you are raped by someone with HPV.

8. What’s the downside to Gardasil? There are some negatives to this vaccine that you should consider. First, there may be side effects such as pain or swelling where you were injected, nausea, fever or dizziness. However, the side effects are pretty rare. also, since the vaccine doesn’t protect against all types of cervical cancer, you still have to get regular pap tests (so no saying goodbye to your yearly gyno appointments). Gardasil also does not protect against any other STDs, so protection is still very necessary during sex and it will not clear up an existing infection of HPV or cervical cancer. the high cost of the vaccine can also be a problem so be sure to talk to your insurance company and doctor to find out how much it will cost before you’re injected.

In the end, it’s up to you to weigh the pros and cons of the HPV vaccine, but hopefully now you can do so with a little more information than a tell someone commercial provides.

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THERE'S new hope for an overlooked epidemic: Two powerful drugs are nearing the market that promise to help cure many more people of liver-attacking hepatitis C – even though most who have the simmering infection don't know it yet.

Surprisingly, two-thirds of hepatitis C sufferers are thought to be baby boomers who’ve harboured since their younger, perhaps wilder, years a virus that can take two or three decades to do its damage.

What could be a treatment revolution is spurring the government to consider if it’s time to start screening aging baby boomers for hepatitis C, just like they get various cancer checks.

"We’re entering a whole new era of therapy," says Dr John Ward, hepatitis chief at the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. "We really want to begin that clarion call for action for this population who’s at risk."

Today’s two-drug treatment for hepatitis C cures only about 40 per cent of people with the most common variety of the virus, and causes some grueling side effects. Now major studies show that adding a new drug – either Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ telaprevir or Merck & Co’s boceprevir – can boost those cure rates as high as 75 per cent. and they allow some people to cut treatment time in half, to six months, thus lessening how long they must deal with those side effects.

If the Food and Drug Administration approves the drugs - a decision widely expected this summer - they would be the first that work by directly targeting the hepatitis C virus. Specialists draw comparisons to the early 1990s when potent combination therapies emerged to treat AIDS. Many recently diagnosed patients are postponing therapy to await these new drug cocktails in hopes of a better chance at a faster cure, says Dr Paul Pockros, hepatology chief at the Scripps Clinic in La Jolla, California, who helped test telaprevir.

However, the bigger impact could come if more people get tested for hepatitis C, a blood-borne virus. It’s often stigmatised as a risk only to people who inject illegal drugs. But the virus could have begun festering from a blood transfusion before 1992, when testing of the blood supply began.

Lapses in infection control in health facilities still occasionally expose people today. So could even a one-time experiment with drugs way back in college, something doctors are reluctant to ask a now middle-aged, button-downed patient to reveal, says Ward.

"It cuts across every segment of society," adds Dr Arun Sanyal of Virginia Commonwealth University, past president of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases. "I can tell you our hepatitis C treatment clinic is a great social equaliser."

About 3.2 million Americans, and 170 million people worldwide, have chronic hepatitis C. in the US, new infections have dropped dramatically - although the disease’s toll is rising as people infected decades earlier reach ages where their livers start showing damage. Hepatitis C already is a leading cause of liver transplants, and it kills about 12,000 US patients a year, a number expected to triple within 20 years.

Most people find out they’re infected like Brian Graham of Briarcliff Manor, New York, during a routine check-up that spotted elevated liver enzymes. He’d never heard of hepatitis C and had no obvious risk factors. But tests showed the virus had begun to scar his liver. So over the last decade he tried three rounds of traditional treatments, with increasingly tough side effects, to no avail.

"I didn’t want to die of liver disease or cancer or suffer the prospect of having to tee up for a liver transplant. Scary stuff," says mr Graham, now 56.

Enter the new drugs. They work by blocking an enzyme named protease that’s key for the virus to reproduce. But they must be taken together with standard medications - ribavirin pills plus injections of interferon-alpha - that are thought to boost the immune system.

According to studies presented at a recent medical meeting, 67 per cent to 75 per cent of patients given treatment including either boceprevir or telaprevir, respectively, had what doctors call a cure. That’s defined as no sign of the hepatitis C virus six months after their last dose. Importantly, only about a quarter of black patients are helped by standard therapy but adding one of the new drugs more than doubled their cure rates.

People getting their first-ever treatment did best, but the studies also found improvements in hard-to-treat patients like mr Graham.

"The fourth time did the trick," says mr Graham, who volunteered for an early telaprevir study and says he’s been hepatitis-free for three years.

The new drugs do add side effects to the flulike symptoms and other complaints of existing treatment. Telaprevir’s main risk is a rash that is sometimes severe, and boceprevir’s is anemia.

"The future looks very bright beyond telaprevir and boceprevir," notes Dr Fred Poordad of Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre in Los Angeles, who has studied both drugs and consults for several companies. he points to additional drugs in earlier-stage testing that promise to target more types of hepatitis C and perhaps eventually allow for pill-only, interferon-free treatment.

Manufacturers haven’t said how much the new drugs will add to the price of treatment that already can cost $30,000, albeit far cheaper than a liver transplant.

A stickier issue: Not everyone suffers serious liver damage and it’s hard to predict who will, raising questions about exactly who needs treatment even as drug companies help push for more screening."

That’s a concern, acknowledges Jeff Levi of the nonprofit Trust for America’s Health, also a screening proponent. But when to treat is a doctor-patient decision, and "anyone with chronic infection you do want to be monitoring so you can intervene at the right moment," he adds.

Plus, people with hepatitis C should avoid alcohol and consider other liver-protection steps - and know how to avoid infecting others, he stresses.

Stay tuned: The CDC has begun a study at four hospitals - in New York, Detroit, Houston and Birmingham, Alabama - to see if a one-time hepatitis C test for baby boomers makes sense. Among the boomers, black men in their 50s are at particular risk. CDC plans new guidelines next year.

Meanwhile, "start that conversation" at a routine doctor’s visit by asking about hepatitis C risks and testing, Dr Ward advises boomers.

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