One Less Cancer to Worry About (If Only)

Posted: 02/07/2013 By: Joaquin M. Espinosa Source: Huffington Post   Thankfully, there is one cancer that I no longer have to worry about. I just need to figure out when exactly my seven-year-old twin daughters will have sex for the first time. ... In 2013, around 12,000 American women will be diagnosed with invasive cervical cancer and more than 4,000 will die from it. Globally, cervical cancer is the third most common cancer in women worldwide, killing >275,000 every year. But these numbers will go down, must go down, because cervical cancer is now a fully preventable disease. Or isn't it? For us cancer researchers, good news is often not good enough and too spread apart. In this long war, we became weary of unfounded celebrations. When asked when exactly our discoveries will make a difference in the clinic, we balk and hesitate, as we have been scarred by the many times that our discoveries did not translate into a cure. Yet this time is different, this victory is unequivocal, scientific research has led to the development of vaccines that can make cervical cancer history. Now all there is left to do is to get people vaccinated. Startlingly, this seemingly simple objective is proving to be a monumental task. Cervical cancer originates in the lower portion of the uterus, and if not detected and treated early it will eventually metastasize and kill. Virtually all cervical cancers are caused by the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), which is present in about half [...]