American Cancer Society opens up new guidelines for cervical cancer screening

The American Cancer Society (ACS) has changed its guidelines for cervical cancer, saying self-collected vaginal swab tests are now acceptable.

 

But according to a recent story by Allyson Chiu in The Washington Post, clinician-collected cervical samples “are still preferred.”

 

The tests are aimed at human papillomavirus (HPV), a sexually transmitted infection that “causes nearly all cervical cancers,” the article maintains

 

Jane Montealegre

Self-collection could be "a game-changer for increasing screening, Chiu quotes Jane Montealegre, associate prof in the  department of behavioral sciences at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, as saying.

Roughly 13,000 new cases of the disease are diagnosed in the United Staters annually, and about 4,000 women die, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

 

Chiu writes that data shows that screening rates have declined in the past 20 years — although cancer incidence had been cut by more than half since the mid-1970s.

 

Montealegre — who also claims that most insurance should cover HPV testing, including self-collected — says a self-collected test could be a good option for women who aren’t comfortable getting as pelvic exam or don’t have access to one. 

 

But, she adds, if you’re interested in self-collection, you should ask your physician to make the option available, and you should make sure the test you use has received Federal Drug Administration (FDA) approval.

 

“If they’re not FDA-approved, I wouldn't trust that as a valid screening test,” the Post quoted her again.

More information on new medical guidelines can be found in Rollercoaster: How a man can survive his partner's breast cancer, a VitalityPress book that I, Woody Weingarten aimed at male caregivers. My other books are MysteryDates — How to keep the sizzle in your relationship; The Roving I, a compilation of 70 of my newspaper columns; and Grampy and His Fairyzona Playmates, a whimsical fantasy intended for 6- to 10-year-olds that I co-authored with my then 8-year-old granddaughter. Check out my website at https://woodyweingarten.com for details.

Fighting the virus that spreads through sex

Federal regulators boost their OK on use of cervical cancer vaccine from age 26 to age 45

U.S. regulators have expanded the use of Merck's cervical cancer vaccine, Gardasil 9, to adults up to age 45.

The vaccine, according to a recent story by Linda A. Johnson of the Associated Press, was previously approved only for preteens and young adults through 26.

Johnson's article notes that the vaccine protects against the human papilloma virus, or HPV, which can cause cervical cancer, certain other cancers and genital warts — and that the virus is "very common and is spread through sex."

HPV, it goes on to say, "doesn't cause any problems, but some infections persist and eventually lead to cancer."

Johnson also writes that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated about 14 million people become newly infected with HPV each year, mostly teens and young adults" — and adds that 33,700 are diagnosed annually with a cancer caused by an HPV infection.

The latest version of the pharmaceutical giant's vaccine protects "against nine strains of HPV, four more than the original" did in 2006, the story indicates.

Details about other new vaccines and drug, and other Federal Drug Administration action, can be found in "Rollercoaster: How a man can survive his partner's breast cancer," a VitalityPress book I, Woody Weingarten, aimed at male caregivers.

Is 'co-testing' for disease on the way out?

HPV tests may replace Pap smears regarding cervical cancer changes, study suggests

Pap smears may be on the way out, replaced by a test for HPV, when it comes to detecting cancerous cervical changes.

At least that's what a new decade-long study involving some 19,000 women suggests might happen (because the Human PapillomaVirus test apparently is more sensitive and more accurate).

The study, published yesterday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, was reported in a Laurie McKinley story in The Washington Post.

Dr. Gina Ogilvie

Dr. Gina Ogilvie, a professor at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver and lead author of the study, has cited a particular benefit — the research showing "women who received HPV testing have more reassurance with a negative test and can likely get screened less frequently."

Mark Schiffman of the National Cancer Institute, an HPV researcher himself, confirmed "that it's important to move from the Pap smear to the HPV test alone," according to the Post article. 

He also reportedly maintains that the Pap smear, which he calls "crude and inaccurate," worked only because women were tested often and because cervical cancer grows slowly.

HPV, the Post piece says, "is the most common sexually transmitted infection and is usually eliminated by the immune system. But when an infection persists, it can cause cellular changes that develop into precancerous lesions and eventual malignancies."

McGinley's story notes that "about 13,240 new cases of invasive cervical cancer will be diagnosed in the United States in 2018, according to the American Cancer Society. About 42,000 women will die of the disease."

In recent years, the article continues, "most medical groups have recommended that women in the United States get both the HPV test and the Pap smear — a practice called 'co-testing.'"

Now, however, many experts are saying the Pap smear should be dropped. That position is still challenged by others who claim "that the Pap smear can catch a small number of cases of abnormal cells that might be missed by the HPV test."

The conventional Pap smear has already been replaced to a large degree by liquid-based Pap cytology tests.

The Post piece contends that "most medical groups," including the American Cancer Society and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, urge "that women of average risk get both HPV tests and Pap smears every five years between age 30 and 65, though they say a Pap test alone every three years is an acceptable alternative."

McGinley's story also notes that "about 80 million people in the United States are infected with HPV [although] most never develop any health problems because most infections go away by themselves, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."

Doctors have long urged children and young adults be vaccinated against HPV with a shot approved in 2006 by the Food and Drug Administration.

More details about cancer research can be found in "Rollercoaster: How a man can survive his partner's breast cancer," a VitalityPress book I, Woody Weingarten, aimed at male caregivers.

Vaccine can prevent most HPV cancers

Over one-fifth of U.S. adults are infected with cancer-causing virus, federal report says

More than 20 percent of U.S. grown-ups are infected with a cancer-causing virus, a federal agency has reported.

A story by Jia Naqvi in The Washington Post today says that a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed almost 23 percent of American adults between the ages of 18 and 59 had one particular type "of genital human papilloma virus (HPV) that put them at high risk of certain cancers."

The percentage almost doubled — to 42 percent — "if any type of genital HPV was included."

Prevalence, the study of 2013 and 2014 showed, "was higher in men than in women, and it was sharply higher among blacks compared to other racial and ethnic groups."

Geraldine McQuillan

Geraldine McQuillan, lead author of the report and a senior infectious disease epidemiologist at the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics, is quoted as saying, "People really need to realize that this is a serious concern."

HPV is the most common sexually transmitted disease in the United States, the story states, with nearly 80 million people currently infected and about 14 million new infections occurring "annually among teenagers as well as adults."

Each year, the Post article adds, "31,000 men and women are diagnosed with cancers caused by HPV — which, in most cases, would have been preventable with the HPV vaccine, according to the CDC."

Studies of cancer-causing agents are detailed in "Rollercoaster: How a man can survive his partner's breast cancer," a VitalityPress book that I, Woody Weingarten, aimed at male caregivers.