SACRAMENTO, Calif. — January is Cervical Cancer Awareness Month, but while it's a disease women can face, anyone can be impacted by it.
A new study found more older women are dying from this disease, despite it being preventable.
"There's a point in everybody's life where you can think about how you can prevent this," said Dr. Nancy Nguyen, OB/GYN and oncologist.
The study from the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center found an increase in women 65 and older dying of cervical cancer, despite CDC guidelines recommending women stop screening at that age.
"It's one of the cancers that we know that we have a tool that we can help prevent this from ever happening in our patients," said Dr. Nguyen.
The cancer center said cervical cancer is most frequently diagnosed in women between 35 and 44 years old. The average age at diagnosis is 50. It rarely develops in women younger than 20.
"We saw that although women over 65 are not recommended to be screened for cervical cancer, about one in five women who are diagnosed with cervical cancer are actually over the age of 65. And unfortunately, the majority of them are diagnosed late stage, about 71% of them," said Julianne Cooley, senior statistician with the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Many older women don't realize the risk of getting this disease is still present as they age.
"I'm hoping that the study has raised some awareness that cervical cancer is still a huge problem among women over 65, and that many women who are under 65, have not actually been screened," said Cooley.
Dr. Nguyen said most patients diagnosed with this cancer have ambiguous symptoms, but knowing those signs and symptoms is the biggest thing to look out for.
Signs and symptoms include:
- Abnormal vaginal bleeding
- Pain during sex
- Swelling of the legs
- Blood in urine
- Pain in pelvic region
- Problems urinating or having bowel movement
The risk factors include:
- Human papillomavirus (causes 90% of cervical cancer)
- Sexual history
- Smoking
- Long-term use of oral contraceptives
"Prevention, in the sense of before even getting to adulthood, is considering the HPV vaccine for our younger woman in our children at the age of nine and up," said Dr. Nguyen.
The American Cancer Society estimates there will be nearly 14,000 new cases of invasive cervical cancer diagnosed this year. The society also estimates this year more than 4,000 women in the U.S. will die from the disease.
Dr. Nguyen wants people to know screenings can save their life and they're relatively easy to do. Anyone interested can contact their doctor of the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center to make an appointment at 800-779-9261.
WATCH ALSO:
