Promoting Prevention for Cervical Cancer

Protect yourself and your loved ones from cervical cancer.  Get the facts. There are things you can do to reduce your risk of cervical cancer. If you are a mother to a pre-teen daughter, there is something you can do to reduce her risk as well. 

On this site, you’ll find life-saving information about cervical cancer – what it is, what puts us at risk for it, how to screen for it, and how to prevent it. There’s a quiz you can take to test your cervical cancer IQ, and you can also take action – for yourself and for women nationwide. 

 All women are at risk for cervical cancer, but some studies show that Asian American and Pacific Islander (API) women are at greater risk. We also know that API women are among the least likely to get recommended cervical cancer screenings (Pap test). This may be due to the widespread misperception that API women are not at risk for this disease.   Here is what the data tell us about cervical cancer and API women:

• All women are at risk for cervical cancer. It occurs most often in women aged 40 years and older. In 2004, 11,892 women in the United States were told they had cervical cancer, and 3,850 died from the disease.¹

• The cervical cancer incidence rate by race for API women (8.0 per 100,000) was lower than other races, when compared as group to non-Hispanic White (8.5 per 100,000), Black (11.4 per 100,000), and Hispanic (13.8 per 100,000) from 2000-2004.²

• Yet, ethnic-specific studies reveal cervical cancer incidence rates are among the highest in the nation for certain API populations, such as Laotian (24.8 per 100,000), Samoan (18.1 per 100,000), Vietnamese (16.8 per 100,000) and Cambodian (15.3 per 100,000) women.³

• Mortality rates for cervical cancer have increased among foreign-born women. Of particular concern is that 70% of the API population is foreign-born.⁴ Also, API women have the lowest cervical cancer screening rates in the nation.  In 2003, 67.8% of API women reported having a Pap test within the past three years compared to 80.1 % of non-Hispanic White women.⁵ The highest rates of never receiving a Pap test occur among women from Asia, Southeast Asia, and India.⁴

Sources:
¹U.S. Cancer Statistics Working Group. United States Cancer Statistics: 2004 Incidence and Mortality Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Cancer Institute; 2007.
²National Cancer Institute’s SEER Cancer Statistics Review, from 2000-2004.
³Cancer incidence and mortality patterns among specific Asian and Pacific Islander populations in the U.S.Cancer Causes Control (2008) 19:227–256.
⁴Cervical cancer screening among foreign-born women by birthplace and duration in the United States.J Womens Health (Larchmt) 2007 Dec;16(10):1447-57
⁵Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, National Health Interview Survey, National Health Care Quality Report (2006).

What is cervical cancer? 

What is the link to HPV? 

What puts you at risk for cervical cancer?

How do you prevent cervical cancer?

Cervical Cancer Resources

Disclaimer: the content of this web page is not medical advice. If you are having a medical problem, contact a health care professional. If you are having an emergency, call 911.