Three indicators of cervical cancer

When talking about cervical cancer, most women will feel very scared because cervical cancer is a cancer with a very high incidence and relatively high mortality rate. The reason why cervical cancer occurs is that the patient's body is infected with the papillomavirus. Therefore, if you suspect that you have cervical cancer, you should go to the hospital for appropriate examinations in time. So what are the three indicators for determining whether cervical cancer exists?

What are the indicators of cervical cancer?

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.

Differential diagnosis of cervical cancer

It is mainly based on pathological examination of cervical biopsy to differentiate it from various cervical lesions with similar clinical symptoms or signs. include:

1. Benign lesions of the cervix: cervical columnar epithelial ectopia, cervical polyps, cervical endometriosis and cervical tuberculous ulcers, etc.;

2. Benign cervical tumors: cervical submucosal fibroids, cervical canal fibroids, cervical papilloma, etc.;

3. Malignant tumors of the cervix: primary malignant melanoma, sarcoma, lymphoma, metastatic cancer, etc.

Three indicators of cervical cancer

The three main indicators for judging cervical cancer are HPV screening and TCT examination, which is liquid-based cytology. If there is any suspicion after the combined screening of these two indicators, a cervical biopsy will be performed. HPV virus infection is the cause of cervical cancer, which has been recognized worldwide. Being infected with HPV does not necessarily mean you will get cervical cancer. Only persistent infection with high-risk HPV for more than 2 years is likely to lead to cancer. Therefore, there is no need to panic when you see the HPV virus positive in the test report. The next step if the HPV virus is positive is cervical TCT screening, which is liquid-based cytology screening. If the TCT result is normal or no intraepithelial lesions or tumors are found, there is no need to worry about this situation. If the TCT results show atypical squamous cells, atypical glandular epithelial cells, or high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions or low-grade epithelial (intra) squamous cell lesions, further cervical biopsy should be performed. Cervical biopsy is the gold standard for diagnosing cervical cancer.