What is the physical impact of cervical cancer treatments?
The figures speak for themselves: out of 3,000 cervical cancers invasives declared each year, there are 1,000 deaths, or one in three people. The peak of diagnosis of the disease is at 45 years. The physical impact is therefore very important on such young women. The treatments for an invasive cancer are mutilating, it is often a removal of the uterus and ovaries, which triggers a forced menopause, not always easy to live with. In some cases, when cancer is diagnosed early, the patient may benefit from conservative treatment, which means only removing the cervix, but this is still an invasive operation. On the other hand, in the event of precancerous lesions, which are therefore not cancer, “lighter” methods can be practiced, by removing only part of the cervix.
What is the psychological impact?
Not having a womb means you can’t have any more children, and this news can be difficult to overcome. Libido can also be felt after radiation therapy and surgery, although we try to help our patients as well as possible. For patients between the ages of 25 and 30, the consequences of treatment for precancerous lesions often make it difficult to get pregnant and carry a pregnancy to term.
What to do to fight against this cancer?
Only one word : screening. I believe a lot in the campaign in progress at the moment. In France, cervical cancer could be virtually eliminated thanks to smear and vaccination against papillomavirus (HPV). But it is important to remember that the smear detects a lesion, it is a secondary prevention, while the vaccination is a 70% primary prevention which avoids precancerous lesions. It’s a real revolution for oncologists. Moreover in Australia, a vaccination campaign has been carried out in schools since 2007. The results are excellent, while in France, the message is struggling to get across.
