Utah chosen for cancer education campaign

About 3,700 American women will die from cervical cancer this year, although when it's detected early most cases are curable. And the real tragedy, according to state officials and health experts, is the disease is preventable.

Wednesday, Utah Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert and first lady Mary Kaye Huntsman announced a cancer initiative to educate the public about the disease. Utah is one of 10 states selected by the National Lieutenant Governors Association to participate in a privately funded campaign they're calling "End Cervical Cancer in Our Lifetime."

"Cervical cancer is highly preventable," said Rose Defa, vice president of the American Cancer Society, which is co-sponsoring the campaign. "We can eliminate this in our lifetime. It's doable."

She said cervical cancer found while still localized is 92 percent survivable. Before it turns into cancer, the pre-invasive lesions on the cervix are nearly 100 percent curable. A half-million such precancerous cases are diagnosed in the United States each year.

Since cervical cancer is both predictable and preventable, "it's astounding we haven't eliminated it," said Dr. Karen Zempolich, a gynecologic oncologist at the Huntsman Cancer Institute. "It leaves children motherless and it leaves women childless."

Huntsman said the hope is to eventually have a vaccine for all types of cancers. In cervical cancer's case, there actually is one. A virus called human papillomavirus (HPV) is responsible for more than 99 percent of cervical cancers. Nearly all sexually active adults at some point are infected with HPV, which is spread by skin to skin genital contact.

Zempolich said cancer experts in Utah see about 50 to 100 cases of invasive cervical cancer a year. Experts say the vaccine is most effective if given before first sexual contact ever occurs.

Herbert said the lieutenant governors are promoting educating people about the HPV vaccine. "Ignorance is not acceptable. People can choose. It's not a mandatory vaccine."

The virus typically has no symptoms and usually disappears on its own, but some HPV may stay in the body for years and lead to cervical cancer. A simple, routine pap test is used to detect abnormal cells in the cervix caused by the virus, which are a precursor to cancer.

For women who are uninsured, underinsured or between jobs, Defa said the cost of cancer screening may be prohibitive. Part of the coalition's effort will be asking the Utah Legislature for an additional $600,000 to screen women who cannot afford the tests.