Last updated on November 22nd, 2018 at 04:22 pm

Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust is a charity that provides support and information to women affected by cervical cancer, and their families.  The awareness week is aimed at increasing women’s awareness of the need to attend cervical screening.

According to the charity, cervical screening (smear test) prevents 75% (up to 5,000) of cervical cancer from developing in the UK, but the number of people attending is decreasing, with 1 in 4 women not attending when invited.  The charity says that:

“Not going for cervical screening is one of the biggest risk factors for developing cervical cancer.”

Who should attend cervical screening?

 The NHS has been running its cervical screening programme since the 1980s and it says that cases of cervical cancer have decreased by 7% each year since.  Women who are registered with a GP are invited for a test according to their age as follows:

• 25 – 49. Every 3 years
• 50 – 64. Every 5 years
• Over 65. Only women who have had abnormal tests or who haven’t been screened since they were 50

Some women are recommended not to attend screening and these include:

• Women who are pregnant
• Women who have never had a sexual relationship
• Women who have had a total hysterectomy

It has previously been assumed that women who are in a same sex relationship do need need to attend screening, but a report published by De Montford University suggests that, as 80% of lesbians have had a previous relationship with a man, they should be tested as the virus can be passed on between same sex partners.

What is cervical screening?

Cervical screening is a test that can detect abnormal cells in the cervix that could potentially lead to cervical cancer.  Abnormal cells are not necessarily cancerous and if they are detected early, it is possible that they can be removed before they become cancerous.  Most cervical screenings result in normal results with around 1 in 20 women showing abnormal results.  This does not necessarily mean cancer and abnormal cells can often go back to normal by themselves.

What causes cervical cancer?

Cervical cancer is a cancer that affects a woman’s cervix.  The cancer almost always develops as a result of the the human papilloma virus (HPV), which is a virus passed on through sexual contact (with a man or woman).   The virus can lay dormant for many years – so even where a woman has had no sexual contact for, say 20 years, it can come up again.  Many of the 100 or so types of HPV are harmless; only some can cause the abnormal cells that lead to the cancer, with 2 in particular – type 16 and type 18 – known to be responsible for 70% of all cervical cancer cases.

When does cervical cancer develop?

There are around 3000 cases of cervical cancer in the UK each year.

It is important to note that HPV infections are quite common and most women who have them don’t develop cervical cancer.  Also, following screening, not all women who have abnormal cells detected will have/develop cervical cancer.

In an interview with Dr Mark Porter for the BBC in 2013, Dr Anne Szarewski, Clinical Senior Lecturer at the Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine Queen Mary University of London at the time, said that there is a misconception that most women develop cervical cancer in their 20’s when the reality is that the most common age to get it is the 30s and 40s, and then again in the 60s and 70s (which probably has something to do with the latency of the virus).

Dr Szarewski also said that there is an 80% chance that at some point in people’s lives they’ll catch HPV, but that the immune system is most likely to get rid of it and so they won’t know we’ve had it.  However, smoking is known to affect the immune system, which means that smokers are less likely to get rid of HPV.

How is cervical cancer treated?

Girls aged 12 and 13 have been routinely vaccinated against HPV since 2008.

There are many treatments available for cervical cancer. If abnormal cells are detected early, it is possible to remove them, which may involve removing a portion of the cervix about the size of a fingertip.  This treatment has a success rate of about 90%.

Cryotherapy (destroying abnormal cells by freezing), laser treatment and cold coagulation (burning away abnormal cells) are also used.

Depending on the stage at which cervical cancer is detected, treatments can range from radiotherapy and/or surgery, chemotherapy/radiotherapy and hysterectomy (removal of the womb), but it is possible to leave the womb in place if detected early enough.  Some treatments can cause early menopause and infertility.

How can Graysons help?

Cervical screening isn’t always perfect and when cells are in the early stages of precancerous changes, it can be difficult to detect an abnormal cell.  Whilst better screening is being developed, between 2% and 20% of tests do not show abnormal cells when they are present. This is known as a false-negative test result and can result in a woman failing to have further necessary treatment.

Conversely, false-positive test results are also possible, which means that screening shows abnormalities even though no abnormal cells/cervical cancer is present.  This can result in women undergoing unnecessary intensive treatment.

Also, some results are incorrectly read and reported and cancerous cervical cells are not diagnosed early enough.  A delayed diagnosis like this can lead to invasive cancer and aggressive treatment that might not have been necessary if the smear test had been correctly interpreted.

Here at Graysons we recognise the devastating, and in some cases fatal, effect that these mistakes can have. We understand the importance of compensation to you as it can greatly improve quality of life for you and your family and provide the care and security that is needed.

If you would like to talk to a member of our specialist team then please contact us for a confidential and free discussion today.