What are the early symptoms of cervical cancer?

Presumably, more and more women have paid more attention to the issue of cervical cancer, because cervical cancer is a cancer disease with a high mortality rate. If you do not pay attention to it, the probability of developing cervical cancer will be relatively high. In fact, in the early stages of cervical cancer, it is often caused by relatively minor cervical diseases that are not treated in time. So what are the symptoms of cervical cancer in the early stages?

1. One of the early symptoms of cervical cancer: increased vaginal discharge

After suffering from cervical cancer, most patients will experience increased vaginal discharge. This symptom manifests itself in the early stages as increased vaginal discharge, accompanied by changes in the color and odor of the vaginal discharge. If you find that the color or smell of your leucorrhea has changed abnormally, or if it becomes serous, or even rice-water-like or watery, and has a foul odor, you must be alert to the possibility of cervical cancer.

2. The second early symptom of cervical cancer: contact bleeding

When suffering from cervical cancer, patients will experience contact bleeding of the cervix. This symptom mostly occurs during sexual intercourse or gynecological examination, and occasionally occurs after straining to defecate. Contact bleeding usually presents as drops or streaks of blood mixed in the vaginal discharge, which is mostly dark red. Many patients mistakenly believe that this symptom is caused by trauma when they discover it, and do not take it seriously, thus delaying the disease.

3. The third early symptom of cervical cancer: irregular vaginal bleeding

Irregular vaginal bleeding caused by cervical cancer mostly occurs in postmenopausal women, and the most common manifestation is the return of menstruation many years after menopause. Irregular vaginal bleeding in menopausal women can easily be confused with normal menstruation, thus delaying the treatment of the disease. Therefore, menopausal women should pay more attention to regular gynecological examinations to detect potential diseases in time to avoid delaying treatment.

Causes of cervical cancer

What are the causes of cervical cancer? Cervical cancer is closely related to early marriage, premature birth and multiple births. Therefore, one should avoid early marriage, early childbearing, multiple births, and sexual disorder; pay attention to the cleanliness of the perineum, and avoid sexual intercourse during menstruation and the postpartum period. The main causes of cervical cancer are:

1. HPV infection

Currently, there are more than 120 known types of HPV, more than 30 of which are related to reproductive tract infections, and more than 10 of which are closely related to cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and cervical cancer. Medical research has found that more than 99% of cervical cancer tissues are infected with high-risk HPV.

2. Sexual activity and birth frequency

Multiple sexual partners, first sexual intercourse before the age of 16, early childbirth, and high birth rates are associated with the occurrence of cervical cancer. The cervix is ​​not yet fully developed during adolescence and is more sensitive to carcinogens. As the number of births increases, the chance of cervical trauma also increases. There are also changes in endocrine and nutrition during delivery and pregnancy, and the risk of cervical cancer increases. Pregnant women have lower immunity and the HPV DNA detection rate is very high. Women who have sexual contact with men at high risk of penile cancer, prostate cancer or whose sexual partners have had cervical cancer are also susceptible to cervical cancer.

Cervical cancer screening

As long as a woman starts having sexual activity, she is likely to be infected with HPV (human papillomavirus, the main cause of cervical cancer), so she should undergo regular cervical cancer screening every year after having sexual activity. How to screen for cervical cancer? Cervical cancer screening should adopt a "three-step" procedure of cervical cytology or high-risk HPV DNA testing, colposcopy, and cervical biopsy, and the diagnosis is based on histological diagnosis.

1. Cervical cytology examination

It is a basic method for early cervical cancer screening and an essential step in diagnosis. Compared with high-risk HPV testing, cytology has high specificity but low sensitivity. Screening should begin 3 years after the start of sexual activity, or after the age of 21, and be reviewed regularly.

2. High-risk HPV DNA testing

Compared with cytology, it has higher sensitivity but lower specificity. It can be used in combination with cytology for cervical cancer screening. It can also be used to triage abnormal cytology examinations. When the cytology is atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASCUS), high-risk HPV DNA testing is performed. Those with positive results undergo colposcopy, and those with negative results undergo cytology examination after 12 months.

3. Colposcopy

If the cytology examination shows atypical squamous cells (ASCUS) and the high-risk HPV DNA test is positive, or if it is low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion or above, a colposcopy should be performed.

4. Cervical biopsy

Any lesion visible to the naked eye should be biopsied at one or more points. If you need to understand the pathological changes of the cervical canal, endocervical scraping should be performed.