Budget woes puts free breast and cervical exams on chopping block in Chicago

Chicago, IL

The Illinois Breast and Cervical Cancer Program will have to cut more than half of its services if an income tax increase does not occur, reports Chi-Town Daily News. The state and federally funded program gives free breast screenings and mammograms for women over 40, cervical exams for women over 35 and cancer treatment to eligible women. With expected budget cuts, the program stands to lose $9 million. More than 36,000 uninsured women in Illinois, a third of which are from Chicago, benefit from the program; more than 21,000 would no longer receive services.

Without the program, many women will delay screening or avoid treatment, said Dr. David Ansell, chief medical officer at Rush University Medical Center, and chairman of the Metropolitan Chicago Breast Cancer Task Force. Many health programs like the Illinois Breast and Cervical Cancer Program stand to lose funding in the 2010 budget approved by the General Assembly that has yet to be signed by Gov. Pat Quinn. The budget lacks an income tax increase the governor said would save human and health services in the state. Lawmakers will continue battling over the budget and Quinn's proposed tax hike in a special session this Tuesday.

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Cervical cancer spot turns theatre into giant cervix

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Vancouver, BC

It's not as bad as it sounds. To encourage women to get regular Pap smears, and to promote its Cervical Cancer Screening Program, BC Cancer Agency partnered with Cineplex Odeon Theatres to air "Eye of the Cervix" in theatres.

Friendly enough ad. The curtain opens to reveal a pretty, congenial doctor. She asks if we're comfortable, does a quick swab and decisively says, "And we're done."

Closing lines bring it home: "It doesn't take long to prevent cervical cancer. Remember to have regular Pap tests."

We like it just fine, and it even made us feel productive, but here's where wanky boyfriends turn to their partners and go, "When was the last time you got checked?"

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National Cancer Insitutue: Treatment regimen extends survival for women with cervical cancer

Bethesda, MD

Making the chemotherapy drug gemcitabine part of the initial treatment of locally advanced cervical cancer and also part of therapy following primary treatment significantly improved survival for women with locally advanced cervical cancer, according to the results of an international, phase III clinical trial.

Presented recently at the 2009 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, the results have important implications for the treatment of women with cervical cancer in developing countries, where 70 to 80 percent of women are diagnosed at a locally advanced stage due to a lack of widespread screening programs, said lead investigator Dr. Alfonso Dueñas-González of the National Cancer Institute of Mexico.

More than 500 women with stage IIB to stage IVA cervical cancer—from countries as disparate as Pakistan and Panama—participated in the trial. They were randomly assigned to the experimental treatment arm, which included cisplatin and gemcitabine with concurrent external-beam radiation therapy, followed by brachytherapy and adjuvant chemotherapy with gemcitabine and cisplatin. Women in the standard treatment group received cisplatin and concurrent external-beam radiation therapy followed only by brachytherapy.

Approximately 75 percent of women who received the experimental treatment did not experience progression of their disease 3 years after treatment, compared with 65 percent of women who received standard treatment. Overall survival was improved by more than 40 percent, the researchers reported. The research team had expected more toxicity with the addition of gemcitabine, and that is what they saw.

"Overall, the frequency of grade III and IV toxicities was higher in the experimental arm, mainly hematological toxicity," Dr. Dueñas-González said. Grade IV toxicities were low overall, he added, and generally toxicities in the experimental arm were "tolerable and manageable."

The trial "in all likelihood defines a new standard of care" for patients with locally advanced cervical cancer, said Dr. Eric Winer, chief of the Division of Women's Cancers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
Standard Treatment for Anal Cancer Confirmed

The largest clinical study of patients with anal cancer has found that the current standard treatment should not be changed. In addition, patients in the study did not benefit from maintenance chemotherapy that was designed to prevent a recurrence, according to the ACT II study, a phase III, randomized trial involving 940 patients.

Most of the 5,000 patients diagnosed with anal cancer in the United States each year have the squamous cell type, which often responds to radiation therapy and chemotherapy. For a decade, the treatment for anal cancer has been radiation plus 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and mitomycin-C chemotherapy. In this trial, British researchers asked whether replacing mitomycin-C with cisplatin could improve results for patients, but the answer was no. Furthermore, patients did not benefit from maintenance chemotherapy with cisplatin and 5-FU.

Overall, however, the patients had very good results relative to the international trials published to date, noted Dr. Roger James of the Maidstone Hospital in Kent, who presented the findings at the recent ASCO annual meeting. At 6 months, 95 percent of patients in both groups had all signs of cancer disappear, and at 3 years, nearly 85 percent of the patients in the trial were alive.

Cisplatin was evaluated because it is commonly used to treat other squamous cell cancers, the researchers said, noting that it is not as convenient to deliver and has different toxicities than mitomycin-C chemotherapy. Future trials will likely ask whether certain patients might benefit from other forms of maintenance therapy.

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Green tea studied in search to stop cervical cancer

Tuscon, AZ

The group of viruses known as HPV is a known cause of cervical cancer. It’s also the most common sexually transmitted disease in the United States. It’s estimated that half of all sexually active Americans will contract HPV during their lifetime and at any given time approximately 20,000,000 people in the United States are carrying the disease.

Most people who get HPV clear the infection on their own, but some people have persistent HPV which can lead to precancerous lesions and other damage to a woman’s cervix. Although the Food and Drug administration approved Gardasil, a vaccine for the virus, in 2006, it cannot be given to women who have already been infected, even if the disease in no longer present in their bodies.

Up until now, all known treatment for persistent HPV have been painful and invasive, involving freezing or surgical removal of part of the woman’s cervix. Both procedures also make it difficult for a pregnant woman to carry a baby to full term. This has lead scientists to search for a better, less invasive method of stopping HPV before it causes the precancerous lesions.

Now Arizona Cancer Center is testing a green tea extract known as Polyphenon E, to see if it is effective against HPV. The $1 million clinical trial will include 150 women in Arizona, California, and North Carolina, all of whom currently are currently infected with HPV. Half of the women will be given a placebo. The other have will be given 800-milligram capsules of green tea extract. This is about the same amount of green tea flavonoids one would receive from drinking approximately 8 cups a day of green tea.

According to Wendy Thomas, research specialist at the Arizona Cancer Center, which is affiliated with the University of Arizona, “Finally we will have a yes or a no. And it may not work, but at least we will know."

The study is being funded by National Cancer Institute’s Division of Cancer Prevention.

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Cervical cancer- shame and fear?

Seattle, WA

Thanks to the new HPV commercials the general public is now aware that cervical cancer can be caused by an STD. They urge more people to be tested and vaccinated, yet now that it has been added to the ‘dirty disease’ category like HIV and AIDS will less women be tested or comfortably admit their diagnosis? It’s sad that we live in a judgmental world. Cancer is cancer no matter where it is on your body. Breast cancer carried the same hush-hush stigma not so long ago and more women lost their lives going undiagnosed or diagnosed too late.

Not all patients with cervical cancer had HPV. In the words of a 33 year old woman who underwent a radical hysterectomy to save her life, “I have no family history of cervical cancer; I’ve never had any STDs; I haven’t had multiple sex partners; and I don’t HPV. Perhaps, when people are aware that one has cervical cancer, they won't look at it as being a "dirty woman" disease like my family did.”

No one deserves cancer. No one battling cancer deserves to be treated with anything but love and compassion. Remember, any STD can occur with just one time, just one partner. Yes, the risk increases with more partners but the reality of infidelity, or an unknowing infected partner can lead to HPV.

The Seattle Cancer Care Alliance advises, “Regular Pap tests are important to your survival: about 90 percent of women whose cervical cancer was detected by a Pap test will survive. The figure is much lower--only 40 percent--for women whose cancer was not diagnosed until they experienced vaginal bleeding.”

According to the American Society of Clinical Oncology, possible symptoms are:

• Blood spots or light bleeding between or following periods


• * Menstrual bleeding that is longer and heavier than usual


• * Bleeding after intercourse, douching, or a pelvic examination


• * Pain during sexual intercourse


• * Bleeding after menopause


• * Increased vaginal discharge

Be informed, be supportive and never live in fear or shame when your life or their's is on the line.

Find a Gynecologic Oncologist: http://www.wcn.org/findadoctor/ Gynecologic oncologists are specially trained to care for women with gynecologic cancers such as cervical cancer, endometrial, or uterine cancer, or ovarian cancer.

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Surviving cervical cancer

Fort Collins, CO

Seven years ago Diane Mullis of Loveland went to her doctor for a regular exam, but it turned out to be anything but regular.

Diane was diagnosed with cervical cancer. Three and a half years after that it came back.

After repeated check up's every few months Diane thought she was in the clear...but the cancer reared it's ugly head once again.

Diane has endured 26 raditaiton treatments and six chemo sessions that basically, as she says, has drained her of her energy. Amazingly however she finds the strength to maintain day care in her home, but does have help.

Most people we speak with who have survived cancer say how importnat support from family and friends is, and Diane is no different.

Diane's daughter Brianna a junior in high school now, is probably her mother's biggest supporter, and Diane says its tough to see what her daughter has to go through.

Now that Brianna is getting close to finishing high school, more than ever Diane is fighting to make sure she's there for Brianna's graduation.

Diane has been part of Relay For Life before, telling us that she's even lost a few friends along the way. She says many people go to the event for many different reasons, but for her it's to hear about what other cancer survivor's are going through and that she's not alone in this battle.

Since we interviewed Diane we have learned from her that her tumor is now gone and she will no longer have to go through chemotherapy or radiation treatment.

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Cervical cancer vaccine not just for teens

Denver, CO

The human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine works for women aged 24 to 45 who aren't already infected by HPV, the virus that has been linked to cervical cancer and other cervical diseases.

That's the finding from Dr. Nubia Munoz, of the National Institute of Cancer in Bogota, Columbia, who noted that women's rising age at first marriage and increasing divorce rates have led to more widespread premarital intercourse and pairing with new sexual partners around middle age.

Their study included more than 3,200 women, aged 24 to 45, with no history of cervical disease or cancer or genital warts caused by HPV types 6, 11, 16 and 18. The women received either the quadrivalent HPV vaccine, which protects against the four HPV types, or a placebo at day one and months two and six of the study.

The women were followed for about 2.2 years and the researchers identified four cases of infection or disease in the vaccinated group, compared to 41 cases in the placebo group. That means the vaccine was 91 percent effective against all four virus strains.

When they looked at only HPV types 16 and 18, the researchers found four cases in the vaccine group and 23 in the placebo group, which means the vaccine was 83 percent effective against those two HPV types.

"Lower effectiveness [about 30 percent] detected in the mixed population (susceptible women and those who have already acquired HPV infection or HPV-associated disease) suggests that the public health effect of vaccinating women aged 25 to 45 years will be smaller than that recorded after vaccinating susceptible adolescents. This notion will be assessed in future cost-benefit analyses," the study authors wrote.

The findings appear online June 2 and in an upcoming print issue of The Lancet.

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