2007). In the case of having a tissue sample to be tested, early stage cervical cancer can be differentiated from healthy cervical tissue by gene expression profile due to comparisons done with healthy and lymph node metastatic tissues which found certain genes upregulated and down regulated (Biewenga, P
2009). Preceded by precursor legions, invasive cervical cancer is characterized by disturbances of the "cellular maturation, stratification, and nuclear atypia…" (Boulet, G
Eighteen types of HPV are known to be oncogenic: 16, 18, 45, 31, 33, 52, and 58 with types 16 and 18 accounting for 70% of all cervical cancer cases (GlaxoSmithKline). The virus itself is a non-enveloped double stranded DNA virus (Steben 2007) containing 8,000 base pairs and encoding for two separate protein classes (Ellenson, L
2004). More sophisticated methods such as the use of MR imaging before, during and after radiation therapy is providing accuracy in the main evaluation of prognostic factors and staging (Engin, G
Now it is known that HPV is a necessary step in the acquisition of cervical cancer and is present in 99.7% of all invasive cervical carcinomas (Gius, D
2004). Indeed, HPV types and 16 and 18 have been found to complex with p53, resulting in its ubiquitin-dependent degradation, taking away its control of the cell cycle -- a hallmark of most cancers (Hu, X
Pathophysiology of Cervical Cancer Every two minutes, somewhere in the world, a woman dies from cervical cancer (GlaxoSmithKline 2007). Caused by persistent or continuous infection by human papillomavirus (HPV), cervical cancer progresses slowly over a number of years (GlaxoSmithKline 2007) and is the second most common cancer for women around the world (Ivansson E
When tumors lose the expression of certain MHC class I molecules, as seen in cervical cancers, the reason may be because of an immunoselection by T cells specific for he peptides presented by MHC I. The loss of the MHC I expression invariably results in non-recognition by cytotoxic T cells (Janeway, C
This vaccine is the direct result of over two decades of research and ongoing trials to find a male equivalent vaccine are underway utilizing a number of species. Papillomavirus infections, however, are species restricted and do not infect of induce changes in the morphology of animal tissues, thus requiring the use of species specific HPV which is hard to equate to humans due to no cervico-vaginal challenge or natural sexual transmission (Schiller, J
et al. 1983) and later statistical analysis showed that the chromosome abnormalities were nonrandom, implicating viral sites and proto-oncogene locations within the chromosomes (Sreekantaiah, C
Up to 80% of women will acquire HPV infection by age 50 (GlaxoSmithKline 2007) and for women between the ages of 20-24 years old, the infection rate is 44.8% (Steben 2007)
2006). Currently there is an HPV vaccine for women that have been shown to be 100% effective against HPV types 16 and 18, preventing subsequent development of CIN (Steller, M
As of 2009 the number of cervical cancer diagnoses stood at 11,270 with 4,070 resultant deaths (National Cancer Institute 2010). Prior to HPV being targeted as the main culprit of cervical cancer, mitotic abnormalities and chromosome rearrangements showed a stepwise progression of tumorigenesis (Therman, E
2002). E2 is a functional elimination as it acts as a viral repressor, while E6 and E7 act as promoters (Yu, T
2004). While most viral DNA replicates extrachromosomally, HPV integrates into the cellular DNA and results in the deletion of large areas of the viral genome including L1 and L2 along with E2 and E5 which leaves E6 and E7 as the primary remaining open reading frames (Zur Hausen, et al
However, we should keep in mind that vaccine carry risks. Recently, our children have undergone various new immunizations, and their full long-term implications still have not been known, (Cynthia Dailard, 2006)
According to Institute of Child Health pediatrician Joydeb Ray, HPV vaccine contains limited usefulness and there is no where that it has been proved that its effectiveness to prevent cervical cancer is 100%. Some misinformation has existed regarding HPV because several people have been questioning believing that it is one among the recommended list, (Gail Javitt, Deena Berkowitz & Lawrence O
Women's Health Promotion: Cervical Cancer Cervical cancer is a serious women's health issue. While many women go to their doctor yearly for testing in order to detect cancer and other problems early, many other women ignore this important examination (Gadducci, et al
That is something worth considering for any woman who is not sure if she wants to get an exam or has been avoiding an examination for lack of insurance, fear, or any other reason. The most common symptom of cervical cancer is abnormal vaginal bleeding (Luhn, 2013; Peto, 2004)
Additionally, women who have symptoms of cervical cancer often avoid seeing their doctor. They may not have health insurance, they may be frightened, or they may think that something less serious is the cause of their symptoms (Peto, 2004)