Should women be screened for cervical cancer at the age of 21? Is the cervical cancer vaccine really effective?

Cervical cancer is very cunning. Most cervical precancerous lesions and early cervical cancer have no symptoms and signs. If there are dangerous signs such as turbid leucorrhea, bloody leucorrhea, irregular vaginal bleeding, etc., you should seek medical attention in time and receive early guidance, early advice, early diagnosis and early treatment. At the same time, he suggested that women correct bad reproductive habits and bad sexual lifestyles, pay attention to reproductive hygiene, avoid multiple miscarriages and induced labor; establish a health concept with prevention as the main focus, improve prevention awareness, and do not give up medical treatment.

What are the symptoms of cervical cancer?

1. Vaginal bleeding:

(1) Young patients often present with contact bleeding, which occurs during sexual intercourse, gynecological examination, and after defecation.

(2) The amount of bleeding may be more or less, generally depending on the size of the lesion and invasion of the interstitial blood vessels.

(3) The amount of bleeding in the early stage is small, but in the late stage, the lesions are mostly massive bleeding, which may cause fatal massive bleeding once the large blood vessels are eroded.

(4) Young patients may also present with prolonged menstruation, shortened cycle, increased menstrual volume, etc. Elderly patients often complain of irregular vaginal bleeding after menopause.

2. Vaginal discharge:

(1) Patients often complain of increased vaginal discharge, which is white or bloody, as thin as water or rice soup, and has a fishy smell.

(2) In the late stage, due to the rupture of cancerous tissue, tissue necrosis, secondary infection, etc., a large amount of purulent or rice-water-like smelly leucorrhea is discharged.

3. Symptoms of advanced cancer:

(1) Secondary symptoms Secondary symptoms may occur depending on the disease.

(2) When the lesion affects the pelvic connective tissue, pelvic wall, compresses the ureter or rectum, or sciatic nerve, frequent urination, urgency, anal swelling, constipation, urgency, lower limb swelling and pain often occur, which can seriously lead to ureteral obstruction, hydronephrosis, and eventually uremia.

(3) At the end of the disease, the patient may experience weight loss, anemia, fever, and general exhaustion.

Cervical cancer vaccine works best in young women

Experts point out that the cervical cancer vaccine currently on the market is most suitable for women aged HPV16 to 26 (human papillomavirus), which means that it is recommended that young women who have not had sexual intercourse be vaccinated, as the effect is better.

Studies have shown that after women who have not been infected with HPV are vaccinated, the HPV infection rate can be reduced by 98%, and the incidence of cervical glandular carcinoma in situ can be reduced by 100%. For those who have been infected. The yield rate of HPV vaccination for women aged 24 to 45 is only 66%, which is significantly lower than that of women aged 16 to 26. These data show that the best benefit is for women who have not been infected with HPV to receive the virus vaccine, and the younger the age, the greater the benefit.

HPV vaccine has not been administered in mainland hospitals, but has been administered in Hong Kong. Given the limited time the vaccine has been on the market, the research results only confirm that the quadrivalent vaccine is effective for 7 years and the bivalent vaccine is still effective for 7 to 8.5 years. The long-term preventive effect is still unclear, so the reader is advised to choose carefully.

Cervical cancer vaccine cannot 100% prevent cancer

Cervical cancer can be prevented by vaccination. Currently, cervical cancer vaccines are available overseas and will soon be introduced in China. But this does not mean that cervical cancer vaccines can completely prevent it. HPV vaccine research has made progress in the past 10 years, and many vaccines have completed Phase I/II clinical trials, but there is still a distance from clinical application, such as clinical side effects and environmental safety. HPV viruses are strictly specific, and it is impossible to establish an animal model to evaluate the immune effect of the vaccine and the safety of the vaccine itself.

Cervical cancer screening is very important

Cervical cancer screening is very important. Experts recommend that women over 21 years old should start cervical cancer screening, and cytology screening can be performed every two years between the ages of 21 and 29. Women over 30 years old need cytology screening and HPV testing at the same time. If two consecutive results are normal, the screening interval can be appropriately extended to 3 years.