Category Archives: Cervical cancer

Podcast: cervical cancer screening, prostate cancer treatment, lung surgery rates and a big day out at Westminster

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We’re thinking of changing or stopping our monthly podcasts – but we need to know what you think. Please leave us your feedback about the podcast in the comments below, to help us decide what to do. Thanks.

In this month’s podcast, we’ve got a roundup of the news from the NCRI Cancer Conference in Liverpool, held at the beginning of November.

We find out how HPV testing and vaccination could mean women only have to be screened twice in their life for cervical cancer in the future, while the latest clinical trial results show that radiotherapy combined with hormone therapy boosts survival from advanced prostate cancer.

Also, a new study shows that only half as many lung cancer patients in England are getting potentially lifesaving surgery compared to the best countries in the world.  And finally, we hear from our supporters who met their local MPs at Cancer Research UK’s first Westminster lobby event.

Listen to this month’s podcast by clicking on the player below:

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Or click here to download the podcast as an mp3.

Also, the podcast is finally available on iTunes to subscribe and download for free.

Alternatively, go to the podcast homepage, where you can hear the show directly through our own Flash player. And there’s also a full transcript of the podcast available here.

We hope you enjoy it – please do let us know what you think of the podcast in the comments below.

Kat

NCRI Conference: Professor Peter Sasieni on HPV vaccination and cervical screening

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Our story about how suggested changes to the NHS cervical cancer screening programme, hand in hand with widespread uptake of HPV vaccination, could dramatically cut the number of smear tests a woman needs in her lifetime, has made the headlines today.

We’ve covered this story in depth already on the blog but here’s a short video featuring the researcher at the heart of the story, Professor Peter Sasieni, along with Cancer Research UK’s senior health information manager Hazel Nunn.

They explain the current situation with screening and vaccination, and how this could change in the future.

Transcript to follow

Kat

NCRI conference: Professor Peter Sasieni on HPV vaccination and cervical screening 

Our story about how changes to the NHS cervical cancer screening programme, hand in hand with widespread uptake of HPV vaccination, could dramatically cut the number of smear tests a woman needs in her lifetime, has made the headlines today. [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-11717154 plus more to come]

We’ve covered this story in depth already on the blog [http://scienceblog.cancerresearchuk.org/2010/11/09/how-could-the-hpv-vaccine-change-our-cervical-screening-programme/], but here’s a short video featuring the researcher at the heart of the story, Professor Peter Sasieni, along with Cancer Research UK’s senior health information manager Hazel Nunn.  They explain the current situation with screening and vaccination, and how this could change in the future.

[transcript to follow]

 

NCRI conference: How could the HPV vaccine change cervical screening?

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The human papillomavirus

The human papillomavirus can cause cervical cancer

The cervical cancer screening programme has been around since 1988. In that time, it has saved as many as one hundred thousand lives from cervical cancer. Now, in 2010, the programme is as effective as ever and it’s still vital that women take up the invitation to go for screening when they receive it.

But some things have moved on. We know more about cervical cancer and the virus that causes it: human papillomavirus, or HPV. Testing for HPV itself, could be an attractive alternative to the current “smear test”, which looks for abnormal cells in the cervix.

We also have a vaccine against two of the most common strains of HPV – 16 and 18 – the ones that are most likely to cause cervical cancer. The vaccine, known as Cervarix, has passed a number of rigorous clinical trials and it’s both safe and effective. It doesn’t cover every strain of HPV, but it has the potential to prevent at least seven out of ten cervical cancers and probably more.

In the UK, the vaccine is now being offered to girls aged 12 to 13, who are given three injections over six months. There has also been a two-year catch-up programme to vaccinate girls aged between 13 and 18. The early results are very encouraging – around 80 per cent of girls aged 12 to 13 have been vaccinated with all three jabs.

According to Professor Peter Sasieni, one of our scientists at Queen Mary, University of London, these two advances – HPV testing and the vaccine – have big implications for the UK’s cervical screening programme.

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February podcast is here

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In the February podcast we find out how scientists may have found an unexpected use for so-called “junk” DNA, and discover how many cases of cervical cancer could be prevented by the HPV vaccination programme.

As the weather stays grey and cold, it may be tempting to hop on a sunbed.  But using sunbeds – especially when young – can increase the risk of skin cancer. We’ve got important news about the progress of a private member’s bill to ban sunbed use for under-18s.

And in case you’re tempted to turn to the bottle to get through the winter gloom, we also bring you a special report on a new campaign from the Department of Health to highlight the health risks of alcohol.

You can listen to the podcast through this player:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Or click here to download the podcast as an mp3.

Alternatively, go to the podcast homepage, where you can hear the show directly through our own Flash player. And there’s also a full transcript of the podcast here.

We hope you enjoy it – please do let us know what you think of the podcast in the comments below.

Kat

HPV vaccine for cervical cancer – information

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The HPV vaccine protects against the virus that can cause cervical cancer

The HPV vaccine protects against the virus that can cause cervical cancer

The HPV vaccine, which prevents against the virus that causes cervical cancer, has been in the news this week since teenager Natalie Morton’s tragic death.

Although it appears that Natalie’s death was unlikely to have been directly linked to the vaccine, people are likely to be concerned about its safety – so we thought we’d pull together some of the best information out there.

  • There’s an excellent and comprehensive overview on the NHS Choices website. This includes videos, side effects information, and a page about the vaccine’s safety

Finally, if you have any questions or concerns about the vaccine you can telephone or email our cancer information nurses on 020 7061 8355 or Freephone 0808 800 40 40 from 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday.

Henry

Cancer screening – is everyone benefiting equally?

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Mammo_breast_cancer

Women from some backgrounds may be less likely to go for screening

Cancer screening saves lives. Thousands of lives every year, in fact.

We know that it can help spot cancer earlier, when it’s more likely that treatment will be successful.  And cervical screening can actually help to prevent cancer from developing in the first place. But is everyone benefiting equally from the screening services we have?

A study published in the British Medical Journal this week says ‘no’.

In the past, we haven’t really had good information about the backgrounds of people going for screening, which meant that we didn’t know whether there were any inequalities in screening uptake. And since we didn’t know about them, we couldn’t do anything to try to reduce them.

So researchers from Oxford University, including Cancer Research UK’s Professor Valerie Beral, have piggybacked on a Government survey to ask more than 3,000 women about whether they had attended breast or cervical screening.

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Measuring the ‘Jade effect’

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Jade Goody attending Cancer Research UK's Pink Ice Ball in 2007

Jade Goody attending Cancer Research UK's Pink Ice Ball in 2007

A couple of weeks ago we wrote about a survey being run by scientists at the Cancer Research UK-funded UCL Health Behaviour Research Unit and the Daily Mirror.

The survey aimed to uncover whether Jade Goody’s story had changed people’s attitudes towards cancer.

Now the results are in, and they make interesting reading.

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