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SALT LAKE CITY — January is Cervical Cancer Awareness Month and roughly 14,000 ladies within the U.S. are recognized with any such cancer annually.
Dr. Jonathan Grant, a radiation oncologist, at Intermountain Healthcare stated long-lasting infections of human papillomavirus are the principle explanation for cervical cancer.
“Cervical cancer is unique because it is one of few cancers that is simulated by a virus,” he stated.
There is now a vaccine to assist prevent this illness, the HPV vaccine.
The American Cancer Society stated cervical cancer charges have dropped 65% from 2012 to 2019 after a era of younger ladies have been vaccinated in opposition to HPV for the primary time.
“The HPV vaccine is one of the great success stories over the last ten to twenty years,” Grant stated.
West Valley resident Marianne Peterson, 40, was recognized with cervical cancer in September of 2021.
“I just felt like I was floating. It was surreal to be diagnosed with cervical cancer,” she stated.
Her final two pap smears got here again with irregular cells and a month earlier than her subsequent yearly checkup she began having heavy bleeding.
Grant stated that may be a signal of cervical cancer. She began chemotherapy and radiation remedy instantly.
“I had never felt that sick in my whole life,” she stated.
But she stored preventing by the illness.
“It was mostly making sure I was here to take care of my kids and my dogs but mostly my kids,” Peterson stated.
Peterson is now cancer free and spends her time tenting with household and associates.
She stated if the vaccine was obtainable when she was youthful, she would have gotten it. “I just think if there is a vaccine that reduces the risk of getting this disease it’s an absolute no brainer,” Peterson stated.
Grant says the HPV vaccine is beneficial for girls and boys between the ages of 9 and 26 and earlier than they’re sexually lively.
