Prevention

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Detecting precancerous changes in their earliest stages through regular Pap tests is the best way to prevent cervical cancer. Most women who develop invasive cervical cancer have not had regular Pap tests. Reducing or eliminating risk factors associated with the development of cervical cancer can also help prevent it:

• Don't smoke cigarettes.

• The Food and Drug Administration approved a vaccine for HPV in the summer of 2006. Gardasil is approved for women ages 13 to 26 to prevent infection with HPV. Years of clinical trials found the vaccine is safe and 100 percent effective in preventing HPV strains 16 and 18, which cause 70 percent of cervical cancers. Gardasil, given in three injections over six months, is also 99 percent effective in preventing HPV strains 6 and 11, which cause about 90 percent of genital wart cases. Although Gardasil prevents the bulk of HPV strains, it doesn't protect against all of them so the FDA recommends it as a complement to safe sex practices and regular Pap tests. Also keep in mind that the vaccine will not get rid of an existing HPV infection.