Category Archives: Cervical cancer

New cervical cancer treatment regime ‘cuts risk of dying from disease by 40%’

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Process tested in patients over 10-year period involves short course of chemotherapy before chemoradiation

Doctors are hailing a “remarkable” new treatment regime for cervical cancer that reduces the risk of dying by 40%, in the biggest advance against the disease in 25 years.

Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women globally, with about 660,000 new cases and 350,000 deaths every year, according to the World Health Organization. In the UK, there are about 3,200 cases and 800 deaths each year.

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Women in England could be offered DIY cervical screening tests on NHS

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Research suggests at-home tests could encourage 400,000 more women a year to have a screening

Women could be offered DIY cervical screening tests on the NHS, after research found self-testing at home significantly improved screening rates.

Researchers calculated that being able to take their sample at home could encourage about 400,000 more women a year to have a cervical screening.

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Women urged to accept NHS cervical screening invitations

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NHS England says its ambition to wipe disease out by 2040 relies on more under-50s coming forward

Women have been urged by NHS officials to attend cervical screenings after figures showed a third of those under 50 do not take up their invitation.

Each year, about 3,200 women in the UK are diagnosed with cervical cancer and 850 die from it. It is the 14th most common cancer affecting women in Britain, with women aged 30 to 34 most likely to be diagnosed with it.

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Indian model Poonam Pandey fakes death to raise cervical cancer awareness

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Reality TV star reveals social media stunt and says she is proud of what ‘death news has been able to achieve’

An Indian model who faked her own death in a publicity stunt to raise awareness about cervical cancer has defended her actions, saying in a social media post that she was proud of what her “death news has been able to achieve”.

Poonam Pandey, a 32-year-old reality TV star and former Bollywood actor who shot to fame in 2011 when she promised she would strip for the India cricket team if they won the Cricket World Cup, was said to have died on Friday.

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NHS England boss to say cervical cancer can be eliminated by 2040

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Amanda Pritchard will say combination of vaccination and screening means goal within two decades is realistic ambition

Cervical cancer can be eliminated in England by 2040, saving thousands of women’s lives, the head of NHS England will say on Wednesday.

A combination of HPV vaccination and screening for the disease means that elimination of it is a realistic ambition, Amanda Pritchard, NHS England’s chief executive, will say.

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HPV vaccine after removal of precancerous cells may cut cervical cancer risk

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Study finds reduced risk of cervical cancer recurring after HPV vaccination post-surgery, though further research is needed

Giving women the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine when precancerous lesions are removed from their cervix may cut the risk of cells recurring and them getting cervical cancer, a study has found.

Cases of cervical cancer in the UK have fallen hugely since school pupils aged 13 and 14 – first girls and later boys – began being offered HPV jabs in 2008 as protection against the disease.

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Scientists developing single test to detect risk of four cancers in women

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Experts may be able to predict risk of developing ovarian, breast, womb and cervical cancers using cells from routine smear test

Scientists are developing a “revolutionary” test to predict a woman’s risk of four cancers using a single sample collected during cervical screening.

Using cervical cells from a routine smear test, experts may be able to spot ovarian and breast cancer or predict their likelihood of developing, according to two papers published in the journal Nature Communications. Further results are due on the ability of the WID-test – women’s cancer risk identification – to predict womb and cervical cancer, researchers said.

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Women can be protected from cervical cancer – so why aren’t we doing it?

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Amid a global shortage of HPV vaccine, more must be done to steer supplies towards those most at risk: girls in poor countries

For too many women, cervical cancer is a death sentence. But it doesn’t have to be. A life-saving preventative vaccine can dramatically cut cases and put the world on track to eliminate this deadly disease.

The UK first began offering a vaccine against HPV – the primary cause of cervical cancer – in 2008. According to a 2018 study by Public Health England, infections of certain cancer-causing types of HPV have since fallen by 86% among 16- to 21-year-old women. A study conducted in Scotland last year found that the vaccine reduced pre-cancerous cervical lesions by up to 90%.

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Mass cervical cancer vaccine rollout could save 62 million lives in next 100 years

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Studies project rapidly deploying HPV vaccine in 78 of the world’s poorest countries could help prevent more than 74 million cases

More than 74m cervical cancer cases and 62m deaths could be averted in the next 100 years if 78 of the world’s poorest countries rapidly deploy HPV vaccinations, cervical screening and cancer treatment, two new studies have projected.

The predictive modelling is published on Friday in Lancet by Université Laval, Harvard University and Cancer Council New South Wales working with the World Health Organisation. All three teams independently developed their models based on the biological understanding of cervical cancer, and multiple data sources from multiple countries located in east Asia and Pacific, Europe and central Asia, Latin America and Caribbean, the Middle East and North Africa, South Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa.

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Rich nations could end cervical cancer within decades, say experts

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Study shows HPV vaccine has greatly reduced infections among girls and young women

Elimination of cervical cancer in wealthy countries such as the UK may be possible within decades, say experts, following a major study showing the success of the HPV jab in protecting women.

Human papilloma virus, which is sexually transmitted, can cause cervical cancer as well as anogenital warts. Data from high-income countries shows vaccination has led to an 83% reduction in HPV infections in 15- to 19-year-old girls over five to eight years. Among women aged 20 to 24, infections are down 66%.

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‘I can change it for others’: the woman who exposed Irish smear tests scandal

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If a test in 2011 had been accurate, Vicky Phelan might have avoided cancer. Now she is trying to give some hope to terminal patients

When Vicky Phelan was told in January 2018 to get her affairs in order because she had less than a year to live, she crumpled. “The legs went from under me,” she recalled.

Emerging from the doctor’s office she avoided the gazes of her daughter and mother waiting outside and sought refuge in a bathroom. “I was in there for about 20 minutes. I bawled my eyes out.”

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