1. Cervical cancer control in Latin America: A call to action
- Author
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Brittany L. Bychkovsky, Kathrin Strasser-Weippl, Kathleen M. Schmeler, Gilberto Lopes, Aknar Calabrich, Jessica St. Louis, Thomas C. Randall, Don S. Dizon, Caroline Vail, Marcela G. del Carmen, Christina I. Herold, Paul E. Goss, Mayra Ferreyra, and Angélica Nogueira-Rodrigues
- Subjects
Cervical cancer ,Cancer Research ,Pathology ,medicine.medical_specialty ,education.field_of_study ,Latin Americans ,business.industry ,Incidence (epidemiology) ,Population ,Developing country ,Disease ,medicine.disease ,Call to action ,Vaccination ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Oncology ,030220 oncology & carcinogenesis ,Family medicine ,medicine ,030212 general & internal medicine ,education ,business - Abstract
Cervical cancer (CC) is second most common cause of cancer in Latin America and is a leading cause of cancer mortality among women. In 2015, an estimated 74,488 women will be diagnosed with CC in Latin America and 31,303 will die of the disease. CC mortality is projected to increase by 45% by 2030 despite human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination and screening efforts. In this setting, the goal was of the current study was to examine CC control efforts in Latin America and identify deficiencies in these efforts that could be addressed to reduce CC incidence and mortality. The authors found that HPV vaccination has been introduced in the majority of Latin American countries, and there is now a need to monitor the success (or shortcomings) of these programs and to ensure that these programs are sustainable. This topic was also reviewed in light of emerging data demonstrating that visual inspection with acetic acid and HPV DNA testing without Papanicolaou tests have efficacy from a screening perspective and are good alternatives to cytology-based screening programs. Overall, there is a need to build capacity for CC control in Latin America and the best strategy will depend on the country/region and must be tailored to meet the needs of the population as well as available resources.
- Published
- 2015