Cancer, the very word is enough to conjure up fear in the minds of people regardless of who they are and where they are from. Such is the notoriety of this word. Among the hundreds of different kinds of cancers out there and new ones still being discovered, the one that widely affects women in the country is cervical cancer.

Cancer at a very fundamental level is the mutation of the cells that begin to grow out of control in the body and become cancerous. What needs to be understood is cells in nearly any part of the body can become cancerous and can spread to other body parts as well in an advanced state, something called as invasive or metastatic cancer in medical terms. Cervical cancer has its genesis in the cells lining of the cervix or cervix uteri, which is the lowermost part of the uterus, the cervix connects the body of the uterus to the vagina. This comes within the larger spectrum of the female reproductive system.

This cancer is seen mostly in women in their midlife, between the ages ranging from 35 and 45 and above, but seldom in younger women who are in their 20s or younger. But as unsusceptible and unpredictable as cancer can be, anyone can be at risk irrespective of their age, hence precautions and preventive measures need to be always adhered to. As per the estimates provided by the American Cancer Society for Cervical cancer in the year 2018, which are

• New cases of invasive cervical cancer diagnosed are about 13,240.
• Women who die from cervical cancer are about 4,170.

Although as per the reports, it suggests that the numbers of deaths from this type of cancer have been significantly reduced in recent years, mainly due to the use of effective screening tests (i.e., pap tests) and methods used to identify and treat cancer at an early stage or a precancerous state before it starts developing and becomes malignant.

Cervical cancer is mostly caused by exposure to various strains of the virus called HPV, which stands for Human Papillomavirus, this is a sexually transmitted disease and plays a major role in causing most cases of cervical cancer. Although HPV as a whole is not linked to the cause of cancer, this virus is further broken down to several subtypes. These subtypes range to about 100 different kinds and only about 40 of them are deemed to be high risk and associated with causing not just cervical cancer but also affect and cause cancer in the anus and penis.

Women who are highly sexually active in their younger age have a significant risk of developing this form of cancer later in their lives. This is because cervical cancer progresses slowly inside the body and may take many years to materialize and get detected. Hence, it is highly advisable to use all the necessary protection, maintaining proper hygiene, limiting the number of sexual partners and sticking with just one partner during sexual intercourse, all of this can considerably reduce the risk of contracting with cervical cancer. And finally, to have regular checks and tests to prevent, reduce and identify potential risk at the earliest.