Cervical Cancer


Women at Risk: The facts about cervical cancer


The risk of cervical cancer is greater than we thought

Worldwide, a woman dies of cervical cancer every 2 minutes. In the Philippines, cervical cancer is the 2nd leading killer cancer for women.

Every woman is at risk.

Cervical cancer is a cancer that affects women of different ages and backgrounds around the world. It begins in the cervix – the part of the uterus (or womb) that opens to the vagina – and becomes gradually more invasive if left untreated.

Cervical cancer is caused by a common virus known as HPV, or the Human Papilloma Virus.

HPV infection is easily transmitted

Acquisition may be by skin-to-skin genital contact – penetrative intercourse is not necessary to become infected

Condom usage may not adequately protect individuals from exposure to HPV.

It is estimated that 50-80 percent of women will acquire an HPV infection in their lifetime

Half of these women will be infected with cancer-causing HPV at some point, usually soon after their first sexual encounter

Risk of HPV infection persisting increases with age: The older a woman gets, the higher her risk of persistent HPV infection (one that does not go away on its own).

Types of HPV

  • There are many types of HPV and at least 30 of them target the genitalia
  • Approximately 15 types are cancer-causing
  • Globally, types 16 and 18 together account for more than 70% of cervical cancer cases
  • Other cancer-causing types (in descending order of global prevalence) include 45, 31, 33, 52, 58, 35, 59, 56, 51, 39, 68, 73 and 82

    • Detection

  • Pap smears are the best way to detect the early stages of cervical cancer as they identify cell changes to the cervix.
  • There are usually no symptoms related to the early stages of cervical cancer.
  • The risk of developing cervical cancer is approximately five times higher in women who are not regularly screened.
  • Screening is important as it helps to detect the development of cervical cancer, but screening cannot prevent HPV infections from occurring.

    • There is good news.

    New advances in science are on our side. A vaccine that targets HPV 16 and 18, the two most common cancer-causing types of HPV, is now available to help protect women against cervical cancer.



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    Philippines

    GSK at a glance

    We are the only pharmaceutical company to tackle the three "priority" diseases identified by the World Health Organization: HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria
    Our business employs over 100,000 people in 117 countries
    We make almost four billion packs of medicines and healthcare products every year
    We screen about 65 million compounds every year in our search for new medicines
    We supply one quarter of the world's vaccines and by the end of 2007 we had 23 vaccines in clinical development
    To date, we have donated over 750 million albendazole tablets to help elimitate lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis) in the world
    In 2006 we shipped 126 million tablets of preferentially-priced Combivir and Epivir (our HIV treatments) to developing countries
    Almost 100 countries benefitted from our humanitarian product donations