For women, cervical cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer death, and though that number has declined over the last 40 years, it remains a danger. In 2012, there were just over 12 thousand new cases of cervical cancer diagnosed and 4,220 deaths. It affects men, too.

Wichita State’s Student Health Services wants to contribute to a continued decline.

That is why it is sponsoring an information table in the Rhatigan Student Center during lunchtime today as part of National Cervical Cancer month. 

Human Papillomavirus is a leading cause of cervical cancer and can be found early through a pap smear during regular physician checkups. 

A vaccine can protect both men and women from contracting HPV, and it is the first cancer vaccine of its kind. Student Health Services Nurse practitioner Linda Hollis said the levels of HPV screening and other abnormalities have declined. 

“It is important for women to get screened and just to know that it is something that is preventable,” she said. “Also, we want to make both men and women aware about the Gardasil vaccine.”

 A three-shot dose of the vaccine protects people from the four most troublesome types of HPV, Hollis said. Two of them can lead to cervical cancer and two of which cause genital warts. These strains are responsible for up to 70 percent of all cervical cancer. 

 

“The vaccines are meant to be given to young men and women before they become sexually active, but it’s not too late to get it at this age, and it can still protect you,” she said. “It is the first anti-cancer vaccine ever developed. We are not utilizing it to the level that we should.” 

HPV and cervical cancer tend to affect women under age 50, but 20 percent of cases are found in women over age 65. In order to catch the risk of cervical cancer in time, women are encouraged by the National Cancer Institute to be checked regularly based on their age. They recommend women aged 21 to 30 get checked every three years, and anyone over 30 to be checked every five years. 

If there are no abnormal tests for people between the ages of 55 and 65, the NCI says testing is no longer needed. Women should not stop screening because they stop having children, and should only discontinue regular testing if they have had a hysterectomy. 

If test results come back abnormal, it does not mean the individual has cervical cancer, but that there are abnormal cells with the potential to mutate into cervical cancer. Not all types of HPV cause cervical cancer, some of them cause infections such as genital warts.

Student Health Services offers the initial pap smear and the follow-up procedure should an abnormal test be found. This procedure, called a colposcopy determines if the abnormal cells can be monitored closely or if they are cancerous and need treatment. Because WSU offers affordable healthcare to their students and staff, Students, faculty and staff needing this service can pay a reasonable price with health insurance through WSU and be scheduled for the procedure quickly.

No cure for HPV exists, but several treatment options are available. Usually, the infection will be resolved without medical attention within two years of contraction, but sometimes surgical interventions are necessary. The abnormal cells can be removed by excision, by being frozen off or removed by electrical currents. 

Some strains of HPV cause genital warts and sometimes the infection dissipates on its own. However, if it does not cure itself, there are creams and surgical options to get rid of the lesions. They include some of the same procedures used to rid the abnormal cells from HPV. 

“We can treat the warts, but the person still has the virus until their bodies take care of it,” Hollis said. 

HPV is transmittable through any form of skin-to-skin contact, and men can pass it to women as easily and women can pass it to men. Someone who has contracted the virus will not know they have it until it shows up on an abnormal pap smear. Men will not know they have it unless they develop genital warts or a partner receives a negative pap smear. 

“Turns out that all teens, if they’re sexually active, do have HPV, but they have very strong immune systems and they generally get rid of that without any problems.” Hollis said. 

The body is built to fight viruses like this and build immunity. 

“Your own immune system can get rid of them and like many viruses, there is not medication that can be taken,” Hollis said. “Once you get one strain, you’ll never get it again because you will become immune to it.” 

More information can be found at www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/types/cervical, or by visiting the Cervical Cancer Month table in the Rhatigan Student Center, Wednesday at lunchtime.