Essentia Health-Moose Lake offering cervical cancer screenings

January is Cervical Cancer Awareness Month and the Essentia Health-Moose Lake Clinic is encouraging patients to visit for a screening.

Because cervical cancer can be detected early, screening is imperative. If it’s caught soon enough, cervical cancer can be removed or treated before it spreads and becomes life-altering. The American Cancer Society (ASC) reports that, when diagnosed at an early stage, the five-year survival rate for cervical cancer patients is 92%. That drops to 57% in cases where it has spread to other parts of the body.

Screening starts at the age of 21 with a simple pap smear. If it is negative, the test is repeated every three years. At the age of 30, if pap smears continue to be negative, we start testing for human papillomavirus (HPV), which is the virus that tends to cause most cervical cancer. If negative, repeat testing is done five years. During these screenings, if something abnormal is found, we repeat the pap smear or take a closer look with a colposcopy, which involves a pap smear with a microscope and taking a biopsy.

“The importance of cervical cancer screening cannot be overstated,” said Dr. Tani Berzins, a family medicine physician at the Essentia Health-Moose Lake Clinic. “Regular screenings offer women the power of prevention, detection and early intervention, safeguarding their future health and improving the chances of a successful outcome.”

In Moose Lake, Essentia offers screening pap smears by any of our physicians. We can also do the colposcopy and, if an abnormality is detected, our on-site OB/GYN can refer a patient for treatment or surgery.

With cervical cancer, there often are no signs or symptoms until it is late in the process. If you notice abnormalities of the cervix, such as a change in your bleeding pattern, pain with intercourse or changes in your vaginal discharge, tell your physician, who will work with you to determine root causes and find out if treatment is needed.

The most recent data from the ASC estimated that nearly 15,000 new cases of invasive cervical cancer were diagnosed in the United States in 2021. The ASC also reports that cervical cancer used to be the leading cause of cancer-related deaths for women in the U.S., but due to widespread screening, the death rate has declined drastically in recent years.

Another proactive way to prevent cervical cancer is to get the HPV vaccine in your teenage years, but it can be given up to the age of 40.