Minority Women's Health

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Cervical Cancer

Minority Women's Health > Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders and Native Hawaiians > Health Topics > Cervical Cancer

The cervix connects the uterus (where a baby grows) to the vagina (the birth canal). Cervical cancer is a disease in which cancer cells are found in the tissues of the cervix. Before cancer cells are found on the cervix, abnormal cells start to appear. Cancer that goes untreated starts to grow and spread more deeply into the cervix and to nearby areas. Cancer of the cervix usually grows over a period of time.

If found early enough, abnormal cells can be treated before they turn into cancer. Your doctor finds these cells by doing a Pap test.

Get a Pap test every one to three years if you have been sexually active, starting at no later than at 21 years old. After your first Pap test, you should have a Pap test at least once every three years. Talk to your doctor about how often you should have a Pap test and pelvic exam.

Asian American/Pacific Islander women and Vietnamese American women especially, tend to have much lower rates of cervical cancer screening than other groups. Vietnamese women have high rates of cervical cancer, 5 times higher than rates for white women.  Many Vietnamese women do not like to talk about disease as this is seen as bad luck. Modesty and the belief that only married women need to have pelvic exams and Pap tests means that cervical cancer is more often found in advanced stages. But, it is important to talk to your doctor about the exams and test that can help protect you.

Almost all cervical cancers are caused by two types of human papillomavirus (HPV), a common virus that is spread through sex. Other types of HPV can cause genital warts. Many types of HPV do not cause problems at all. HPV can't be cured, but you can talk about treatment options with your doctor if abnormal cells grow.

The National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (NBCCEDP) program provides free or low-cost Pap testing to women who don't have health insurance. To learn more about this program, please contact the CDC at 1-800-CDC-INFO (232-4636).

Publications

1.   Asian Pacific Islanders Women's Health: Multilingual Cancer Screening Recommendations - This multilingual site offers several languages to help Asian Pacific Islander women understand the importance of having mammograms and pap smears at regular intervals. Materials are offered in Samoan, Cambodian, Laotian, Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, and Thai.

   http://www.apanet.org/~fdala/

2.   Cervical Cancer Screening: What Vietnamese Women Should Know - This booklet, in the Vietnamese language, provides information about the importance of Pap tests to detect cervical cancer.

   http://www3.cancer.gov/hpb/vietnamese/cervical/

3.   HPV Vaccine Questions and Answers - This fact sheet answers commonly asked questions about the HPV vaccine regarding the causes of HPV, prevention, treatment, and symptoms.

   http://www.cdc.gov/std/hpv/STDFact-HPV-vaccine.htm

4.   The Pap Test: Questions and Answers - This fact sheet answers questions that women commonly have about the pelvic exam and pap test, why each is important, how each is performed and by whom, how the results are interpreted, and what can cause an abnormal pap test result.

   http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Detection/Pap-test

5.   What You Need To Know About™ Cancer of the Cervix - This booklet on cervical cancer discusses possible causes, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, emotional issues, and questions to ask the doctor. It includes a glossary of terms and other resources.

   http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/wyntk/cervix

6. Asian Language Materials - This web site lists the American Cancer Society materials available in different Asian languages such as Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese.

   http://www.cancer.org/docroot/ASN/ASN_0.asp

7. Asian Pacific Islander Cancer Education Materials Tool (Copyright © ACS) - This catalog of information about cancer provides links to web sites that can provide Asian or Pacific Islander education materials on a variety of cancer topics.

   http://www.cancer.org/acmmain

8.   Strength as a Survivor: Living After Cancer Treatment (Copyright © Lance Armstrong Foundation) - This is a brochure written specifically for Asian American cancer survivors. It raises awareness of the physical, practical and emotional concerns of cancer survivors, lists resources and encourages survivors to seek support.

   http://www.livestrong.org/atf/cf/%7BFB6FFD43-0E4C-4414-8B37-0D001EFBDC49%7D/brochure_asa.pdf...

Organizations

1.   Cancer.gov
2.   National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program, NCCDPHP, CDC
3.   Office of Minority Health, OPHS, OS, HHS
4.   Office on Women's Health, HHS
5. American Cancer Society
6. Asian American Network for Cancer Awareness, Research, and Training
7. Asian and Pacific Islander American Health Forum
8. Association of Asian/Pacific Community Health Organizations
9. National Asian Women's Health Organization
10. National Cervical Cancer Coalition (NCCC)

= Indicates Federal Resources

Current as of December 2007