The Biology of Cervical Cancer: Impact on Womens Health - Term Paper Example

Running head: The Biology of Cervical Cancer: Impact on Women’s Health The Biology of Cervical Cancer: Impact on Women’s Health Name: Unit: BIO 101 Professor: Submission Date Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 1.0.Introduction 3 2.0. Cervical cancer background 4 3.0.The Target Population for Cervical Cancer 5 4.0.Common Cervical Cancer Symptoms and Signs 6 5.0.Diagnosis, Screening and Treatment of Cervical Cancer 7 6.0.Possible Prognoses of Cervical Cancer 9 7.0.Conclusion 10 8.0.References 11 The Biology of Cervical Cancer: Impact on Women’s Health 1.0. Introduction Cervical cancer is a type of cancer whose development occurs in the cells lining of a woman’s cervix. The cervix is the small part of the female reproductive system that connects the uterus to the birth canal. In its early stages, the disease is not associated with any serious symptoms. However, at later stages the most common symptoms include abnormal bleeding of the vagina after sexual intercourse, during menstrual periods and after menopause (American Cancer Society, 2014). This report will look into the biology of cervical cancer and its impact on the health of women. Figure 1: The Female Reproductive Organ Illustrating Cervix Source: www.shutterstock.com, image no. 243154639 2.0. Cervical cancer background The history of cervical cancer dates back to nearly 150 years ago. The earliest strides towards the discovery of cervical cancer were made by scientists in the 1860s. They associated what they termed as the ‘cancer of the uterus’ (Cervical cancer) with sexual lifestyle. Later epidemiological researches by virologists, epidemiologists, cytologists and public health specialists focused on identifying the link between cervical cancer and sexual behavior. However, it was not until in the 1980s when the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) was established as the cause of cervical cancer (Reynolds& Tansey, 2010). The triumphant discovery was made by Dr. Harald ZurHausen and his team in 1983. He worked with the German Cancer Research Center at the time. In 1984, the team successfully cloned HPV 16 and HPV 18 from specimens made from patients with cervical cancer. The breakthrough discovery of the link between HPV and cervical cancer won him several awards. The awards include Nobel Prize and Award for Lifetime Achievement from the American Association of Cancer Research. The discovery of the link between HPV 16 and HPV 18 and cervical cancer led to the development of vaccines against the two Human Papilloma Viruses (Reynolds& Tansey, 2010). HPV is a highly contagious infection, with more than three-quarter of women sexually active acquiring it sometimes in their lifetime, and it is transmitted through sexual intercourse. Therefore, cervicalcancer is an acquired disease transmitted through sexual intercourse (Reynolds& Tansey, 2010). 3.0. The Target Population for Cervical Cancer On an individual perspective, cervical cancer is commonly found among the sexually active age-brackets. It is popular among women with several sexual partners (Geisler, Swathirajan, Wood & Manahan, 2012). On a country perspective, cervical cancer has been closely associated with less developed countries. In developed countries such as the United States of America the number of cases of cervical cancer is low compared to the number in the less developed countries. Cervical cancer, therefore, has been closely associated with low socio-economic status in the less developed countries (Geisler, Swathirajan, Wood & Manahan, 2012). According to World Health Organization (WHO), the incidence of cervical cancer and mortality rate has decreased in industrializedworld countries in the last 30 years or so. WHO associates this with improved socio-economic status (WHO, 2014 P.25). Figure 2: Estimated Cervical Cancer Incidence Worldwide, 2012 Source: WHO, 2014 Figure 3: Estimated Cervical Cancer Mortality Worldwide, 2012 Source: WHO, 2014 4.0. Common Cervical Cancer Symptoms and Signs At the earliest stages of development, cervical cancer is associated with various signs and symptoms. They include abnormal vaginal discharge, abnormal bleeding especially after intercourse and unusual bleeding after menopause (WHO, 2014). At advanced stages of development, cervical cancer is associated with more serious signs and symptoms. The most severe ones include pelvic pain, severe backache, swelling of the lower limbs and weight loss. Other advanced symptoms include frequent urination and lower urine output, fistulae and anemia (WHO, 2014). 5.0. Diagnosis, Screening and Treatment of Cervical Cancer The female cervix is composed of two major tumors and other minor ones. The two major tumors are the squamous tumor and the adenocarcinoma (glandular tumor). The other tumors include undifferentiated carcinoma and neuroendocrine tumors. The squamous cell carcinoma is said to cause about 80% of cervical cancer. Adenocarcinoma causes about 15% of cervical cancer (WHO, 2014). The development of a prophylactic vaccine has made vaccination against HPV 16/18 a success. The vaccine facilitated the prevention of cervical cancer especially by decreasing cervical carcinomas by more than two-thirds worldwide (Colombo, Carinell, Colombo, Marini, Rollo & Sessa, 2012). Screening is a community health intervention initiative provided to an asymptotic community. It is not undertaken for diagnosis but purposely to identify those vulnerable to the disease or those with potential causes of the disease (WHO, 2014). The importance of cervical cancer screening is that it enables the detection, prevention and treatment of cancer at the pre-cancer stage before it transforms to invasive cancer (WHO, 2014). Treatment of cervical cancer can occur at two stages, the pre-cancer stage and the invasive cancer stage. At the pre-cancer stage, there are two treatment methods; the ablative method, which involves the destruction of tissue abnormalities through burning or freezing, and the excisional method, which involves surgery to remove the malignant tissue. The latter involves confinement of tissue specimen for further histopathological examination unlike the former (WHO, 2014). The most well-known cervical cancer treatment procedures include Loop Electrosurgical Excision Procedure (LEEP), Cold Knife Conization (CKC) and Cryotherapy. Before these procedures are applied to a patient, she must be confirmed to have cervical cancer through cervical biopsy (WHO, 2014). Cryotherapy is an ablative method that involves elimination of precancerous cervix tissues through freezing. An ice-cold metal disk is applied to the cervix to freeze the malignant cells together with the surrounding benign cells. The metal is usually cooled using carbon dioxide gas or nitrous oxide gas normally compressed in a tank. Cryotherapy can cover a small part of the body such as the cervix, or it may cover the whole body (Lubkowska, 2012). Loop Electrosurgical Excision Procedure eliminates malignant tissues from the cervix by use of an electrical current. The electrical current is normally contained in a loop of thin wire which is usually powered by an electrosurgical unit. The electrical current normally carries low-voltage. It is more effective than CKC and Cryotherapy. It is also cost-effective, simple to use, and it is associated with fewer side effects (MedicineNet.com, 2015). Cold Knife Conization involves the removal of cone-shaped malignant tissues from the cervix. The removal includes some portions of endocervix and ectocervix (see figure 1). The tissue removal depends on the depth of infection. The removed tissue is further subjected to laboratory histopathological examination and diagnosis for confirmation purposes and to ensure all malignant tissue has been utterly extracted (WHO, 2014). It is important to note that there are other various methods of cervical cancer treatment at the pre-cancer stage. This report only discusses the major ones. At the invasive (advanced) cervical cancer stage, treatment may involve a combination of three methods. The methods include chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery. The three methods can be used simultaneously. In a primary cervical cancer development case, radiotherapy or surgery can be used without the use of chemotherapy (WHO, 2014). Surgery involves surgical extraction of malignant tissue from the cervix. It can be used as a primary or secondary therapy. Radiotherapy also known as radiation therapy involves the use of radio-active rays. Invisible rays are beamed onto the abnormal cervix tissues and the surrounding benign tissues. The rays destroy cancer cells. Chemotherapy involves repeated administration of drugs that are toxic to the cancer cells. The drugs are administered repeatedly until they kill all the cancer cells (WHO, 2014). 6.0. Possible Prognoses of Cervical Cancer There are various factors that influence cervical cancer prognosis or survival rates for women after successfully undertaking the best treatment. The most fundamental predictor of how long the woman survives is the clinical stage of cervical cancer when first diagnosed. There are other crucial factors that also influence the chances that the patient will survive for a reasonable time after treatment. They include treatment accessibility, cancerous lymph nodes and prevalence of other chronic or acute ailments. The nutritional and health status and immunosuppression capacity of the patient’s body also determine her life-span after treatment. Other important factors include socio-economic differentials, high costs of HPV vaccines and the condition of the screening technologies (Kumari, Sudhakar, Ramesh, Kalpana & Paddaiah. 2010). It is important to note that countries with poorly established health systems and with high poverty rates have high incidences of mortality rates due to cervical cancer. 7.0. Conclusion Cervical cancer has been ranked the second highest cancerous killer among women after breast cancer. The situation could worsen if no measures are undertaken by both the developed and developing countries. Scientists have proposed various measures that could work in developing countries. They include cervical cancer screening, Promotion and support of HPV vaccination and pre-cancer treatment. These measures have worked in industrialized countries and could reduce deaths due to cervical cancer to very low levels. Education and creation of awareness among women through women empowerment programs could go a long way in reducing the disease. 8.0. References American Cancer Society, (2014). Cervical Cancer: What is Cervical Cancer? http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cervicalcancer/detailedguide/cervical-cancer-what-is-cervical-cancer p.1-57 Colombo, N., Carnell, S., Colombo, A.,Marini, C., Rollo, D. &Sessa, C. (2012). Cervical Cancer: ESMO clinical practice guidelines for diagnosis, treatment and follow-up. Annals of Oncology, 23: 27-33. Geisler, J. P., Swathirajan, J., Wood, K.L. & Manahan, K.J. (2012). Treatment of advanced or recurrent cervical cancer with Cisplatin or Cisplatin containing regimens: a cost effective analysis. Journal of Cancer, 3, 454-459. Kumari, K.G., Sudhakar, G., Ramesh, M., Kalpana, V.L. &Paddaiah, G. (2010). Prognostic factors in cervical cancer: a hospital- based retrospective study from Visakhapatnam city, Andhra Pradesh. J Life Sci, 2(2), 99-105. Lubkowska, A. (2012). Cryotherapy: physiological considerations and applications to physical therapy. Physical Therapy Perspectives in the 21st Century-Challenges and Possibilities, 7, 155-179. MedicineNet.com. (2015). Loop Electrosurgical Excision Procedure (LEEP). Retrieved, 10/25/2015 from, http://www.medicinenet.com/loop_electrosurgical_excision_procedure/article.htm Reynolds, L. A. & Tansey, E. M. (2010). History of Cervical Cancer and The Role of the Human Papilloma Virus. The Transcript of Witness Seminar held by the Welcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine, UCL, London. Female Reproductive System. Retrieved, 10/25/2015 from, www.shutterstock.com Wiebe, E., Denny, L., Thomas, G. (2012). Cancer of the Cervix Uterine. International Journal of Gynecology and Obsterics, 119(2): 100-109. World Health Organization, (2014). Comprehensive Cervical Cancer Control: A Guide to Essential Practice, 2nd Edition. WHO Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data, 1-378. Read More