Cervical cancer is a disease with various causes. It can be prevented, provided that measures are taken in time. Cervical cancer is among the common types of cancer in women, just like breast cancer.
In this prevention month, let’s see how women can limit health risks.
However, it is not just a women’s issue, even if they are the main victims. As a man, it is also appropriate to know what this evil is, how to help your partner prevent it, so that its consequences do not negatively affect your couple’s life.
What is cervical cancer?
The main cause of cervical cancer is an infection by viruses from the papillomavirus family (HPV). This type of cancer attacks the cervix, in specific areas. To better understand how this type of cancer operates, one must first understand the structure of the cervix.
The cervix is the link between the vagina and the uterus, the cervix is covered with a mucous membrane that secretes cervical mucus, which is essential in the biological functions of the uterus. The mucosa is composed of two layers; an outer cellular one called epithelium, and an inner one forming the connective tissue.
In the vast majority of cases, cervical cancers originate from the epithelium. In 85% of cases, it’s the external part of the cervix that’s affected, referred to as squamous cell carcinomas. In 15% of cases, it’s the internal part that’s affected, referred to as adenocarcinomas.
The HPV is a sexually transmitted virus found in 99% of cervical cancer cases. It is a common form of infection, as 20 to 50% of 20-year-old women have been exposed to it.
How is its diagnosis made?
Just like for breast cancer, you should encourage your partner to undergo regular screening tests, as cervical cancer can develop without showing any real clinical signs.
Similarly, when your partner notices bleeding outside of normal menstrual periods, then it is worth seeing a doctor.
The screening for cervical cancer is done by a cervical smear. This test, known as a cervical smear, is painless and quick, and can be conducted by either a gynecologist or your general practitioner. The goal of this test is actually to take samples of certain cells for analysis, to look for the presence or absence of cancerous or abnormal cells.
To have the smear test, your partner must go to the doctor outside of menstruation period. Other tests will follow the smear test if it turns out to be positive.
In addition to the standard examination by a gynecologist, the specialist may decide to take a tissue sample by biopsy or conization from your partner, in order to perform a histopathological analysis.
Similarly, scans, an ultrasound or an MRI can be considered depending on the case, in order to determine the stage of cancer development. Thus, the appropriate treatment can be chosen based on the identified stage.
Generally, we distinguish 4 stages of development of cervical cancer:
- At stage 1, the cancerous tumor is located in the neck;
- At stage 2, the tumor develops in areas such as the vagina and the tissues surrounding the uterus;
- At stage 3, 2/3 of the vagina is affected, as is the peri-uterine tissue;
- At stage 4 (terminal), cancer spreads into organs such as the bladder; the rectum, etc.
What are the risk factors for cervical cancer?
The HPV
It should be noted that the majority of women affected by cervical cancer have been exposed to HPV. This virus is indeed one of the common causes of this cancer. However, it should be mentioned that an HPV infection does not necessarily mean that your partner has cervical cancer.
Only certain types of HPV (type 16 and 18 in particular), involved in the context of a chronic infection, can in the very long term cause abnormal changes at the cellular level to the point of triggering cancer and making it evolve. The aim of this article is therefore not to alarm you, but rather to raise your awareness of the existence of this risk in your partner.
Sexual Activity
The more sexually active a woman is, the more she is exposed to cervical cancer. Sexual activity is not limited to the sexual act itself, but also includes any genital skin contact, as well as oral sex. This means that all sexually active women are potential victims of this cancer, given their exposure to HPV. In fact, women who have never been sexually active are very unlikely to get cervical cancer.
Moreover, a woman who becomes sexually active at a young age increases her chances of developing cervical cancer. Science associates this increased risk in this specific case with the changes that occur in the cervix during puberty, making this area of the female body more exposed to lesions.
Multiple partnerships in women are also a risk factor. Likewise, as a man, if you have many other women as sexual partners, or if these women have cervical cancer, you increase the chances of your wife also having it.
Smoking
Smoking is a risk factor for cervical cancer. Indeed, it promotes the persistence of an HPV infection. An HPV infection that does not disappear on its own can cause the formation of a squamous intraepithelial lesion (SIL) of the cervix.
This is a precancerous state of the cervix, so it can almost be seen as a precursor sign of cervical cancer. For this, you need to ensure that your partner is less inclined to smoking, especially when she is pregnant.
Multiple Births
Multiparity is a risk factor, especially among women with an HPV infection. The theme of parity is used in medicine to designate the number of times a woman has given birth to a child. Multiparity is then the fact for a woman to give birth several times.
By establishing a link between this multiparity and the risk of cervical cancer in a woman infected with HPV, it is realized that the more childbirths this woman has experienced, the higher the risk increases. It should be noted that the risk is not related to a specific number of childbirths.
The real reason why childbirth increases the risk of cervical cancer is not yet clearly identified. However, hypotheses in this direction suggest a possible implication of the hormonal changes that occur during pregnancy.
The trauma suffered by the cervix during childbirth can also be a reason. According to some research, if your wife has had cesarean sections, the risk that she may have cervical cancer is lower.
HIV Infection
In its mode of operation, the Human Immunodeficiency Virus weakens the immune system. However, the weakening of the immune system increases the risk of other types of infections occurring, among which are HPV infections. Even more so, the chances of the HPV virus disappearing in an already failing and weakened immune system are slim.
Under these conditions, HIV increases the risk of precancerous changes in cervical cells progressing quickly to become true cervical cancer.
Seen this way, it would mean that if your partner tests positive for HIV, there is a strong chance that she may suffer from cervical cancer. Moreover, in women who are HIV-positive, precancerous cells tend to develop more quickly than in a woman who is declared HIV-negative.
When your wife is diagnosed with HIV, you must therefore take the appropriate steps to consult with a specialist about the possibility of limiting the proliferation of precancerous cells.
The history of sexually transmitted infections (STIs)
Chlamydia trachomatis is a bacterium that can be transmitted through sexual contact and can infect all the fibers that follow each other in your wife’s genital tract. If your wife is a carrier of the HPV virus and chlamydia trachomatis, it is highly likely that she could contract cervical cancer.
According to scientists, chlamydia is the basis of a prolonged inflammation that makes it more difficult for the female body to get rid of the HPV infection, especially when chlamydia infections occur regularly.
In addition to these risk factors, we also include infection with the herpes simplex virus type 2, also known as human herpesvirus 2, or HHV-2. In women infected with HPV, infection with the HHV-2 virus further increases the likelihood that she will develop cervical cancer.
Oral Contraceptives
Oral contraceptives are nothing more than the pill, which some women take to limit the risks of unwanted pregnancy. When your wife regularly takes pills over the long term, a possible HPV infection can easily evolve and become cervical cancer.
A woman on the pill for nearly 5 years for example has a high chance of developing cervical cancer. The risk decreases when she stops taking contraceptives over a long period (10 years for example).
Taking immunosuppressants is also another risk factor for cervical cancer.
What are the possible prevention measures?
There are preventive measures for cervical cancer. They are related to its infectious nature, but also to the presence of precancerous lesions, which are easy to detect.
Among the means of prevention of this type of cancer, we count the protection against STIs, notably through the use of the condom. It indeed reduces the risk of a papillomavirus infection, and any other form of STI that would increase the probability of cervical cancer occurrence.
Genital warts are visible signs of an HPV infection. Therefore, you should take your partner to see a specialist to get them treated for removing HPV. However, it should be noted that the chances of total elimination are not high. This approach, nevertheless, helps to reduce the risk of developing cervical cancer.
Frequent screening for precancerous lesions is also a way to prevent this disease. In this regard, the cervical smear remains the most effective and reliable way to detect abnormal cells in the cervix and proceed with their screening. This is a test that your wife should have every 3 years, even if she has already been vaccinated against the HPV virus.
Vaccination against papillomavirus infections is the latest prevention method we will discuss here. It complements cervical smear screening and is recommended for all young girls aged 11 to 14. The effectiveness of the vaccination in this age group is apparent, given that by this age, not all young girls have had sexual intercourse to the extent of being exposed to the papillomavirus. Beyond this age range, it is still possible to catch up on the vaccine for young girls up to the age of 19.
In France, three vaccines are available for the prevention of cervical cancer. These are CERVARIX, GARDASIL and GARDASIL 9. When your partner starts prevention with one of these vaccines, they should continue and finish with the same vaccine. They are administered in two injections for girls from 11 to 14 years, and in three injections for teenagers from 15 to 19 years old who, within this age bracket, already have an active sexual life for some of them. Regardless, consider taking your wife to a gynaecologist for screening, then preventive or curative treatment depending on the results obtained.