Dr. Soliman describes cervical cancer and discusses the risk factors.
Dr. Soliman:
Cervical cancer is when a patient has an abnormal growth or tumor in the cervix, which is the opening of the womb.
Most women with cervix cancer are diagnosed at what we call early stage disease, which means that the cancer itself is limited to the cervix and hasn’t really spread to the other organs.
The good thing about early cervix cancer is it’s a very treatable disease. So oftentimes women with either surgery or a combination of radiation and chemotherapy can be cured of their cervix cancer and have good long-term survival.
There are pretty well described risk factors for cervix cancer so we know that certain groups in the general population are at higher risk.
These include smoking, include having sex at an early age. Women who are exposed to HPV are also at an increasing risk. Women who have multiple partners – all of these groups we know have a higher risk of developing cervix cancer.
Dr. Pamela T. Soliman, M.D., M.P.H.:
Dr. Pamela T. Soliman, M.D., M.P.H., is Assistant Professor in the Department of Gynecologic Oncology, Division of Surgery, at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. Dr. Soliman earned her medical degree from the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond and she earned her master of public health from The University of Texas Health Science Center Houston.
Visit Dr. Soliman at MD Anderson Cancer Center
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