January is Cervical Cancer Awareness Month, and to learn more about the disease and what people can do in terms of prevention, the Chronicle reached out to Dr. Janice Ascencio, chair of the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center’s Women Health Center.
The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2026 13,490 new cases of invasive cancer will be diagnosed and about 4,200 women will die from the disease, which impacts Black and Native American women at about a 55 and 80 percent higher rate, respectively, than white women.
Ascencio said that 99 percent of cervical cancers are caused by persistent infection with high-risk human papillomavirus.
“This virus is sexually transmitted and usually doesn’t require any penetrative intercourse, but any intimate genital skin-to-skin contact,” Ascencio told the Chronicle. “It is very easy to transmit.”
If people were to get an HPV vaccination before exposure to the virus, the disease could be eradicated, said the OB/GYN.
“In fact, countries that have adapted universal vaccination like the [United Kingdom] have had dramatic drops in their cervical cancer rates,” said Ascencio, who said the disease is the abnormal growth of the cells on the cervix. “We screen women at 21, but any sexually active person should be screened.”
Cervical cancer dropped by 90 percent for women in their 20s who were fully vaccinated by 15 years old or younger in the UK and the disease is expected to be eliminated there by 2040, according to England.nhs.uk.
By giving a pap smear, doctors can check for irregularities in the cells of the cervix.
“It used to be that everyone should be screened annually, but it is now three to five years, depending on the result of the patient,” due to new testing in which people are now screened for both cervical cell changes and the virus at the same time, said Ascencio. “If the patient has an abnormal pap smear, the screening may be annual.”
Initially, screenings were annual for women 30 years and older before guideline changes were made.
“In 2018 to 2020, the HPV test was now being endorsed as a primary screening option and right now, and some are saying you can even do the HPV testing alone,” said Ascencio, “but the American Council of [Obstetricians & Gynecologists] doesn’t say that, so we stick to the dual screening, that includes the pap smear, where we can also do the HPV test.”
People tend to develop cervical cancer during their reproductive years, which is why it is important to get screened and vaccinated early, said Ascencio. Those who develop the cancer are at risk of having to get a radical hysterectomy, chemotherapy radiation or having their cervix removed, which will cause infertility.
“You can get vaccinated as early as 9 to 12 years old,” she said. It is best for people under 15 to get two vaccinations within the same year and for those 15 and older to get three vaccinations, she said.
“There are more than 200 types of HPV and the vaccination covers nine different strains,” she said. “In terms of vaccination early, it helps to decrease the risk of long-term infection with the risk type of HPV and reducing the risk of getting cervical cancer. … The vaccine covers high-risk and low-risk types. … We picked the most aggressive in terms of causing cervical cancer and the other ones are the low risk types that causes genital warts and the like.”
If people are diagnosed at stage 1, they have a more than 90 percent chance of surviving cervical cancer. At stage 2, the survival rate is around 60 percent, at stage 3 it is 30 percent and at stage 4 only one in five people, or 20 percent, survive the disease.
“Prevention is key to the survival of the disease,” Ascencio said. “You can’t go back. Make time for this and get screened.”
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