Risk
Factors for Cervical Cancer
Several risk factors increase your chance of developing cervical cancer.
Women without any of these risk factors rarely develop cervical cancer.
Although these risk factors increase the odds of developing cervical
cancer, many women with these risks do not develop this disease. When
a woman develops cervical cancer or precancerous changes, it is not
possible to say with certainty that a particular risk factor was the
cause.
In considering these risk factors, it helps to focus on those that
you can change or avoid (such as smoking and sexual behaviors that
can lead to human papillomavirus infection), rather than those that
you cannot (such as differences in age and family history). However,
understanding risk factors that cannot be changed is still important
because it can convince women with these factors to get a Pap test
for early detection of cervical cancer. Cervical cancer risk factors
include:
Age: The average age of women newly diagnosed
with cervical cancer is between 50 and 55 years. This cancer rarely
occurs in girls younger than 15. It begins to appear in women in their
twenties. Cervical cancer is different from most cancers that tend
to occur more often as people get older.
Human papillomavirus infection: The most
important risk factor for cervical cancer is infection by the human
papillomavirus (HPV). HPVs are a group of more than 100 types of viruses
called papillomaviruses because they can cause warts, or papillomas
. Different HPV types cause different types of warts in different
parts of your body. Some types cause common warts on the hands and
feet. Other types tend to cause warts on the lips or tongue.
Smoking: Smoking exposes the body to
many cancer-causing chemicals that affect more than the lungs. These
harmful substances are absorbed by the lungs and carried in the bloodstream
throughout the body. Tobacco by-products have been found in the cervical
mucus of women who smoke. Researchers believe that these substances
damage the DNA of cells in the cervix and may contribute to the development
of cervical cancer. Women who smoke are about twice as likely as nonsmokers
to get cervical cancer.
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection: HIV is the virus
that causes the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Because
this virus damages the body's immune system, it makes women more susceptible
to HPV infections, which may increase the risk of cervical cancer.
Scientists believe that the immune system is important in destroying
cancer cells and slowing their growth and spread. In women infected
with HIV, a cervical precancer might develop into an invasive cancer
faster than it normally would.
Diet: Women with poor diets may be at
increased risk for cervical cancer. Diets low in fruits and vegetables
are associated with an increased risk of cervical cancer and several
other cancers.
Low socioeconomic status: Low socioeconomic status is also
a risk factor for cervical cancer. Many women with low incomes do
not have ready access to adequate health care services, including
Pap tests and treatment of precancerous cervical disease. Such women
may also be undernourished, which may play a role in increasing their
risk.
Diethylstilbestrol (DES): DES is a hormonal
drug that was prescribed between 1940 and 1971 for some women thought
to be at increased risk for miscarriages. Of every 1,000 women whose
mother took DES when pregnant with them, about 1 develops clear-cell
adenocarcinoma of the cervix. Stated another way, about 99.9% of "DES
daughters" do not develop these cancers.
Clear cell adenocarcinomas are more common in the vagina than the
cervix. The risk appears to be greatest in those whose mothers took
the drug during their first 16 weeks of pregnancy. The average age
at diagnosis of DES-related clear-cell adenocarcinoma is 19 years.
Most DES daughters are now between 30 and 60, so the number of new
cases of DES-related cervical and vaginal clear-cell adenocarcinoma
has been decreasing during the past 2 decades. However, this type
of cancer has recently been found in a woman in her early 40s, and
doctors still do not know exactly how long women remain at risk for
DES-related cancers.
Family history of cervical cancer: Recent
studies suggest that women whose mother or sisters have had cervical
cancer are more likely to develop the disease, themselves. Some researchers
suspect this familial tendency is due to an inherited condition that
makes some women less able to fight off HPV infection than others.
|
|
|
