Every year, about 12,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer—but it's also highly preventable. January is Cervical Health Awareness Month—so, hey. It's kind of the perfect time to talk about some of the things you just might not know about the disease.


Cervical cancer is most often caused by HPV (human papillomavirus). HPV is a common sexually transmitted infection (about 20 million Americans between the ages of 15 and 49 have it—and, according to Planned Parenthood, most sexually active people should expect to be exposed to it at some point in their lives). Most HPV cases are harmless and go away by themselves without treatment, but a few types can lead to cervical cancer in some women.

You don't need to have sex to get HPV.
HPV is transmitted through genital skin-to-skin sexual contact—so no actual penetration is needed to contract or transmit the virus. The virus can be transmitted through oral sex (though that's less common).

Cervical cancer takes years to develop.
Abnormal cells from HPV can lead to cervical cancer, but those cells can be taken care of—and the disease prevented—if changes in the cervix are found early, and then treated. That's why a Pap test is important; it can find those abnormal cells before they become cancer. Women 21 to 29 should have routine Pap tests every three years; women ages 30 to 64 should have a Pap test every three years, or a Pap and HPV test every five years.

Abnormal cell changes from HPV don't usually cause symptoms—unless they turn into cervical cancer.
The symptoms include: vaginal bleeding that's different from normal for you; bleeding when something comes in contact with your cervix (like during sex); pain from sex; vaginal discharge tinged with blood.

The HPV vaccine helps protect against the infection (and, thus, cervical cancer).
The FDA approved the vaccine for (nonpregnant) women under the age of 26. The vaccine doesn't protect against all HPV strains but has been shown to be almost 100 percent effective in preventing cervical cancer caused by the high-risk strains.

So do you find any of these things surprising? And do you have any questions about cervical cancer?

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