What is the average age for cervical cancer

In , it accounted for an estimated , new diagnoses and , deaths worldwide. In the United States, the National Cancer Institute estimates that cervical cancer will account for 14, new diagnoses and 4, deaths in This corresponds to 0. While cervical cancer used to be a leading cause of cancer deaths in females in the United States, improvements in screening have helped lower these numbers.

In fact, cervical cancer rarely happens in females who receive regular screenings before age 65 years. The introduction of the HPV vaccine has also helped reduce the incidence of cervical cancer. A study involving over 1 million females ages 10 to 30 years old found that HPV vaccination before age 17 years reduced the risk of cervical cancer by almost 90 percent.

Having human papillomavirus HPV is the leading risk factor for cervical cancer. There are many different types of HPV. Some of these types lead to genital warts and are not associated with cancer. You may see these referred to as low-risk HPV types. There are about 14 types of high-risk HPV, with types 16 and 18 causing most cancers.

HPV is transmitted from one person to another through skin-to-skin contact and can be transferred during sexual activity. Additional risk factors for cervical cancer include:. Early cervical cancer often does not have any symptoms until it has spread into neighboring tissues.

When symptoms are present, some of the common ones are:. If these symptoms are not due to cervical cancer, they could be caused by another medical condition that needs treatment.

Getting vaccinated for HPV is one of the best ways to help prevent cervical cancer. In addition to cervical cancer, other cancers that can be caused by HPV include:. In fact, according to the ACS, the 5-year survival rate for localized cervical cancer is 92 percent. The diagnostic process for cervical cancer often starts when you receive an abnormal result on a screening test like a Pap smear or HPV test.

This alerts your doctor that further testing is necessary to determine if precancerous or cancerous changes are present. This screening procedure can find changes in the cervix before cancer develops. In recent years, the HPV test has been approved as another screening test for cervical cancer since almost all cervical cancers are caused by HPV human papillomavirus.

The HPV test looks for infection by high-risk types of HPV that are more likely to cause pre-cancers and cancers of the cervix. Cervical cancer is most frequently diagnosed in women between the ages of 35 and 44 with the average age at diagnosis being Human papillomavirus—associated cancers—United States, — MMWR ;65 26 — Skip directly to site content Skip directly to page options Skip directly to A-Z link.

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