Vietnam every year has 5,174 new cervical cancer cases and 2,472 women die of the disease on average, said a report at the conference held by the Vietnam Preventive Health Association on July 24.
The disease, which is usually found in women between the age of 35 and 60, is caused by human papillomavirus (HPV), especially HPV types 16 and 18, which account for more than 80 percent of the cases, the Association said.
HPV is present in 100 percent of cervical cancers, of which 80 percent are squamous cell carcinoma, said Prof. Marc Steben, from the Social Medicine and Obstetrics Department of the University of Montreal, Canada.
A Papanicolaou (Pap) test is a very simple way to test the cervix for abnormal changes in cells that could lead to cancer if not treated. The test is almost always done with a pelvic exam, during which the female reproductive organs are checked for changes in size or shape.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cancer of the cervix is the second most common cancer in women worldwide, with about 500,000 new cases and 250,000 deaths each year. Almost 80 percent of cases occur in low-income countries, where cervical cancer is the most common cancer in women.
