Symptoms Of Cervical Cancer
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|What Are The Signs Of Cervical Cancer?
The early stage of cervix cancer is called cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN). It is also known as dysplasia and squamous intraepithelial lesion (SIL). CIN affects nearly 50,000 American women a year and is considered a precursor to cancer. It is characterized by abnormal cell growth on the cervix indicating precancerous or cancerous cells, depending on the grade. A low grade CIN grows very slowly over time and typically resolves (cures) of its own accord. High grade CINs can lead to cervical cancer without treatment in 30 to 50 percent of cases. The sooner CIN or any other cervical cancer stages can be diagnosed, the better the opportunity for treatment and life expectancy (see cervical cancer survival rates). The main problem however is that CIN rarely produces any symptoms, so in most cases it will only be discovered during a routine Pap smear test screening. Currently 11 percent of American women do not have Pap test screenings which put them at greater risk.
Some women experience a watery blood-stained vaginal discharge which they might not even notice. It may be more apparent as a streak of light blood smeared on toilet paper after wiping the vagina. Or the woman may notice a slightly foul smell. A small amount of odorless milky white discharge is normal and healthy. However when discharges change in amount, appearance or smell this usually signifies a problem - although in most instances it is usually something relatively harmless like vaginitis or yeast infections (known as thrush in the UK). If you do notice any unusual discharges ask your doctor to check it for you. He will perform a pelvic examination and may even take a sample of the discharge to send to labs for testing. If a smear test has not been recently carried out, he will perform this too. See also: Signs of yeast infections.
Irregular Vaginal Bleeding
All vaginal bleeding in postmenopause women is taken seriously by doctors. In fact they will assume it is cancer unless diagnosed otherwise. This is because 30 percent of cases do turn out to be cancer. 98 percent of those cancers will be either cervical or endometrial cancer. However it is important to note that certain medications can cause light bleeding. Estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) for example can cause light bleeding for up to 6 months after beginning therapy. Additionally women who take daily dosages of estrogen combined with progestin for 10 to 12 days a month can experience light bleeding when the progestin is withdrawn. This is quite harmless. Read also about, what causes brown spotting?
Symptoms may include any of the following:
What If I Have Symptoms?
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