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Ency. home > Disease > C > Cervical cancer

Cervical cancer    See images

Overview | Symptoms | Treatment | Prevention

Alternative names:

Cancer - cervix

Symptoms

Most often, cervical cancer in its earliest and most treatable stages does not cause any symptoms. When there are symptoms, the most common are:

  • Persistent vaginal discharge, which may be pale, watery, pink, brown, blood streaked, or dark and foul-smelling
  • Abnormal vaginal bleeding, especially between menstrual periods, after intercourse or douching, and after menopause, which gradually becomes heavier and longer

Symptoms of advanced cervical cancer may include:

  • Loss of appetite, weight loss, fatigue
  • Pelvic, back, or leg pain
  • Leaking of urine or feces from the vagina
  • Bone fracture

Signs and Tests

Invasive cervical cancer often appears as an irregular fleshy growth, often firm or hard, that tends to bleed easily. But even on pelvic examination by a doctor, pre-cancers and even early cancers of the cervix are often not visible to the naked eye. Tests are necessary to diagnose cervical pre-cancers and cancers:

  • Pap smears screen for -- but do not diagnose -- cervical pre-cancers and cancers
  • Pap smears that are collected or read by special methods (ThinPrep, AutoPap, PapNet) are now available that can be useful in certain situations or in laboratories for quality control
  • Colposcopy is an examination of the cervix under magnification in order to locate an abnormality of the cervix
  • Biopsy, colposcopy, or sometimes the use of LASER (a loop electrode) or other instrument allows a diagnosis to be made
  • When cervical cancer is found, additional tests -- such as X-rays, using an instrument to look into the bladder (cystoscopy), and rectum and colon (colonoscopy) -- are used to determine how far the cancer has spread and what stage the disease is in

Ency. home > Disease > C > Cervical cancer

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