Cervical cancer

(Baonghean)- The cause of cervical cancer (UTCTC) has now been identified as the HPV virus (full name is Human Papillomavirus). This is a highly contagious virus and most women are at risk of infection with this virus. On average, 8 out of 10 women may have been infected with HPV at least once in their lifetime.

UTCTC does not occur suddenly but goes through stages from viral infection to cervical abnormalities, precancerous lesions and then cancer. These stages take place over a fairly long period of time, on average from 10 to 15 years.

It is worth noting that these stages progress silently, and the pre-cancerous stage has almost no symptoms, so women do not know they have the disease if they do not go to the gynecologist. When in the late stages, people with UTCTC have symptoms such as foul-smelling vaginal discharge, mixed with blood, vaginal bleeding after intercourse or after heavy work even when it is not menstruation, or more seriously, there may be bloody vaginal discharge, accompanied by abdominal, back, pelvic and leg pain. If you see any of the above signs, see a doctor immediately. Do not ignore or disregard these symptoms. When symptoms are ignored, cancer will have time to progress to later stages and treatment will be more difficult.

Cervical cancer is a preventable cancer by vaccination against HPV types that cause cervical cancer and regular cervical cancer screening with Pap smears for sexually active women. Prevention is most effective when these two methods are combined.

Currently, in Vietnam, there is a vaccine to prevent the most common types of HPV that cause cancer, which can be injected into young women under 26 years old, including those who have had sex and those who have not had sex.

In addition, married women need to have regular gynecological examinations and screening with Pap smears, at least once a year, to detect and treat early stages of the disease.

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