Cervical Smear & HPV

Cervical cancer/smear tests

In 2003, around 2800 women in the United Kingdom were diagnosed with cervical cancer, with 95% of them being less than 35 years old. Cervical smear tests (which are also known as ‘pap smears’) are tests used to detect any abnormal cells present in your cervix (which is the entrance to your uterus/womb).

Your IPSA Medical cervical cancer/cervical smear test consultation

Your female IPSA Medical specialist will see you immediately, and will fully examine you (in IPSA Medical’s clean, private and highly confidential setting). She will encourage you to voice any of your concerns during your IPSA Medical full-length cervical cancer consultation, and will undertake a private cervical smear test. With IPSA’s client-centred personal approach, you are treated holistically, which means that your IPSA Medical physician will talk through both your family history and relevant cervical cancer risk factors with you. With her special interest in sexual health and family planning, your IPSA Medical practitioner is highly competent at cervical cancer consultations and at carrying out smear tests. She will clearly explain both your results and any relevant findings with you, and then she will refer you for further specialised investigations based on your IPSA Medical cervical cancer consultation.

What are the symptoms of cervical cancer?

The United Kingdom has employed strategies that have reduced the incidence of both cervical cancer and of deaths from cervical cancer. This has been achieved through increasing screening and the overall awareness of the importance of such screening.

The following symptoms are often indicative of cervical cancer having developed:

• Having an unpleasant smelling vaginal discharge
• Experiencing pain in your pelvic region
• Experiencing pain when having sex
• Bleeding between your periods, bleeding after having sex, or bleeding after you have gone through the menopause

If you have any of these cervical cancer symptoms, then you should visit your IPSA Medical consultant gynaecologist at once. These symptoms are most probably not due to cervical cancer; however, if they are, faster treatment will mean a much better outcome.

What causes cervical cancer? Human papilloma virus and cervical smear testing

For human papilloma virus (HPV) to develop (and thus for you to have an increased risk for developing cervical cancer), the risk factors are having a weak immune system, having multiple sexual partners, using the contraceptive pill for a long time, smoking and having sexual activity before reaching 17 years old.

How does the IPSA Medical clinic diagnose cervical cancer?

If your results show abnormal results from your cervical screen or if you present with any of the indicative symptoms that are outlined above, then your IPSA Medical physician will undertake further tests to check for any signs of you having cervical cancer.

Your IPSA Medical specialist might then perform an additional cervical smear test; this is to determine if your cervical cells have altered from their normal state into pre-cancerous cells or cancerous cells. If these cervical cell changes are moderate to severe, or if you have two smear tests showing the cells have had mild changes, then you will need to undergo something called a ‘colposcopy’; a medical procedure to closely examine your cervix. If abnormal cells are seen, a biopsy (which is a small sample) might then be taken to carry out additional testing. A pelvic or trans-vaginal USS (ultrasound scan), an MRI or a CT scan might also be undertaken.

What treatment is available at my IPSA Medical clinic for cervical cancer?

Depending on the precise stage of your cervical cancer and on how far your cervical cancer has spread, various treatment options exist, each of them with different rates of success. The key objective of each treatment type is to destroy and remove any of the abnormal cancerous cells.

Surgery

Mostly, only the area that has been affected by your cervical cancer needs removed if it is caught early enough.

However, if your cervical cancer has spread, you might need to have a ‘total hysterectomy’; this is where your uterus (your womb), both of your ovaries, your fallopian tubes, your pelvic lymph nodes, and all surrounding tissues are removed, as this is where your cervical cancer might have spread to.

Fertility

If your cervical cancer is treated at an early stage then your fertility might not be affected.

Phone your IPSA Medical clinic or book online for your same-day IPSA Medical cervical cancer/smear test consultation.