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March 2nd, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda THURSDAY, March 1 (HealthDay News) — Women who have regular Pap
tests to screen for cervical cancer are more likely to survive if they are
ever diagnosed with the disease, a new Swedish study suggests.
Compared to women whose cervical cancer is detected because of
symptoms, those diagnosed after a routine Pap smear increased their cure
rate from 66 percent to more than 90 percent, the researchers said.
“Regular Pap screening does not just prevent cancer by looking for
precursors, but it also increases the possibilities of cure if the cancer
is detected during screening,” said lead researcher Dr. Bengt Andrae, of
the Centre for Research and Development at Uppsala University. “We can say
the benefit of Pap smear screening is real.”
In a Pap smear, cells scraped from the opening of the cervix are
examined under a microscope. This year, more than 12,000 women in the
United States will be diagnosed with cervical cancer, and more than 4,000
will die from it, according to the U.S. National Cancer Institute.
For the study, published in the March 1 online edition of the
BMJ, Andrae‘s team collected data on more than 1,200 Swedish women
diagnosed with cervical cancer from 1999 to 2001.
The researchers found 92 percent of the women who were screened
regularly were cured, compared with 66 percent of the women diagnosed once
symptoms had developed.
Cure rates were also higher among women screened according to
established guidelines, compared to women who were overdue for a Pap test,
they found. Of nearly 400 women who died from cervical cancer, 75 percent
had not had a Pap test within the recommended time.
Dr. Jennifer Wu, an obstetrician-gynecologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in
New York City, said that “this is what we expected. Pap smears are good
preventive measures for trying to catch cervical cancers early.”
With cervical cancer, symptoms don’t appear until the cancer has spread
to other parts of the body. At that point, the cancer is in an advanced
stage, which is difficult to treat, she said.
“In patients that go for yearly checkups, we usually catch these
problems before they become cervical cancer,” she said. “Or, if there is
cervical cancer it is in an early stage where the chances of survival are
greatest.”
Guidelines from the American Cancer Society recommend that screening
for cervical cancer start three years after a woman becomes sexually
active, but no later than age 21. Screening should be done every year or
every two years after that.
At age 30, if a woman has had three normal Pap tests in a row, she can
be screened every three years. After age 70, if Pap tests have been normal
for 10 years and three tests in a row, certain women may stop screening
altogether, according to the guidelines.
However, Wu said she thinks sexually active women with different
partners should be screened every year, regardless of previous
findings.
The new vaccine to protect against the human papillomavirus (HPV) will
protect women against about 70 percent of cervical cancers. But Andrae
said even women who have been vaccinated need to continue Pap smears.
“The vaccine doesn’t cover all HPV types. It covers the worst type, but
there are still HPV types not covered, and you need to be screened for
those,” he said. “And also, you may have been infected before you were
vaccinated and the vaccine won’t do any good. That’s why you have to go on
being screened.”
Many people are afraid screening might find cancer, so avoid these
tests that could save their life, Andrae said. “You shouldn’t fear what
might be found in screening. Regular Pap smear screening is effective,” he
said.
Some screenings, such as the PSA (prostate-specific antigen) test for
prostate cancer, are less efficient, because abnormal findings can result
in unnecessary treatment, Andrae said. But the Pap screening “is as good
as we thought,” he said.
More information
For more information on cervical cancer, visit the American Cancer Society.
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