Gold award-winning director Chen Huiling died of cancer! Doctors reveal the most deadly aspect of "cervical cancer": HPV virus may lie dormant for 20 years
Director Chen Huiling, who had won five Golden Bell Awards and directed several popular Taiwanese dramas, lost to the recurrence of cervical cancer on November 1 this year and died of the disease at the age of only 48. Cervical cancer is one of the common cancers in women, mostly caused by sexual infection with the human papillomavirus (HPV). Although the body can mostly clear up HPV after infection, a small number of people who are persistently infected will develop cervical precancerous lesions and even cervical cancer in the future.
The HPV vaccine is effective against 9 viruses! “1 examination” is expected to reduce the number of sick people by more than 90%
When it comes to cervical cancer prevention and treatment, “HPV vaccine” and “Pep smear examination” are important means of primary prevention and secondary prevention of cervical cancer respectively. Dr. Lai Jiming, CEO of the Taiwan Cancer Foundation, said that since cervical smear examination was included in the health insurance benefits in 1995, the number of affected people has been reduced to “only 7 per 100,000 people” suffering from cervical cancer in recent years; in addition, since 2018, Since 2009, the Taiwan Health Promotion Administration has promoted the HPV vaccine to be administered at public expense to first-year female students in junior high schools. The prevalence of cervical cancer in this group has dropped significantly by 88%.
Dr. Lai Jiming emphasized that the effectiveness of the “9-valent vaccine” covers 9 types of HPV viruses (type 6, type 11, type 16, type 18, type 31, type 33, type 45, type 52, type 58), and can even prevent Cancers such as vulvar cancer, vaginal cancer, penile cancer, anal cancer, and sexually transmitted diseases such as genital warts (cauliflower).
Cervical cancer can be effectively prevented by increasing the coverage of HPV vaccination, increasing the screening rate of Pap smears and other examinations, and enabling early detection and accurate treatment. Dr. Lai Jiming pointed out that WHO has released a “Global Strategy to Accelerate the Elimination of Cervical Cancer” with the goal of accelerating the elimination of cervical cancer by 2030. The Taiwan Cancer Foundation has also continued to invest in helping promote relevant policies in the past few years.
Is cervical cancer the “number one killer” of gynecological cancer? Doctors reveal the most deadly factor: the virus may lie dormant for 20 years
Dr. Chi-Ming Ho, Director of the Medical Research Department and Director of the Gynecological Cancer Center of Cathay General Hospital, also pointed out that cervical cancer is the “number one killer” of gynecological cancers in Taiwan. In the past, 80% of patients had invasive cervical cancer when the disease was discovered. At present, due to the vigorous promotion of cervical cancer smear screening, the mortality rate of cervical cancer has been declining year by year.
Dr. He Zhiming emphasized that smear examination is a method for early detection of cervical lesions and early treatment. Cervical cell smear is an important basis for discovering cervical cell lesions. Cervical cancer smear screening has significantly reduced the factor Mortality due to cervical cancer. However, many people still have doubts about its effectiveness because cervical cancer smear screening has a false negative rate of up to 30% in a single examination.
Therefore, “HPV testing” has become one of the auxiliary methods for cervical cancer screening and prevention. HPV testing has been approved by the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States for first-line screening of cervical cancer. It can screen for infection with the main cancer-causing types “type 16” and “type 18”. If infected with types 16, 18 and other high-risk types, even if the smear is normal, 20% of people will still have cervical cell lesions confirmed by biopsy. However, Dr. Guo Wencui emphasized that even though the performance of Pap smear examination in cervical cancer screening still needs to be improved, it is still recognized as one of the most economical and effective cancer prevention methods.
Dr. Ho Chi Ming pointed out that early age at first sexual experience, multiple sexual partners, immune deficiencies (such as AIDS patients or HIV carriers), a history of sexually transmitted diseases, HPV infection, smokers, etc. are all risk factors for cervical cancer. High-risk groups. Common symptoms include abnormal vaginal bleeding, abnormal bleeding between menstruation, vaginal bleeding after sexual intercourse, and some patients have increased secretions in their private parts with a putrid odor. When the above symptoms occur, you should seek medical treatment as soon as possible. In addition, since HPV infection takes 10-20 years or even longer to progress to cervical cancer, women who are no longer sexually active or have stopped menstruating still need to have regular smear tests.
Preventing HPV can prevent 99% of cervical cancer! Doctors recommend “two-pronged approach” of Pap smear and HPV vaccine
Dr. Zhang Zhilong, chairman of the Taiwan Gynecological Cancer Medical Association, said that although Taiwan has not implemented long-term home isolation measures, relevant data shows that during the epidemic in Taiwan, not only did the number of Pap smear screenings drop by 130,000 a year, some counties also The number of people undergoing smear screening in the city has even dropped by nearly 20% (18.4%); the vaccination rate of publicly funded HPV vaccination among junior high school girls has also dropped.
Dr. Zhang Zhilong emphasized that foreign studies have estimated that based on the decline in HPV vaccination rates during the COVID-19 epidemic in the United States, there will be at least more than 130,000 cauliflower (genital warts), 70,000 cervical precancerous lesions, and more than 2,880 cervical cancer patients in the next 100 years. , may be caused by missed or late vaccinations caused by the epidemic.
“Cervical cancer is the only cancer for which “preventing viruses and preventing cancer at the same time” applies. As long as you prevent the HPV virus, 99% of cervical cancers can be prevented!”
Dr. Zhang Zhilong explained that even if the epidemic is severely affected, the prevention of cervical cancer is still urgent. To prevent cervical infection, the first step is to get the HPV vaccine. If the cervix is unfortunately infected with HPV, a “viral test” is required to check whether there is a risk of progression to precancerous lesions. Finally, detecting suspicious cells through cervical smear examination can help early detection and early treatment.
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Further reading: Is HPV omnipresent and the hidden culprit of head and neck cancer? The ratio of female to male is higher! Medical reveals 5 major risk factors
