Zeenat ChoudhryMCB 2400- 001-1208Cervical Cancer Cancer is a very deadly disease which is caused when cells divide and uncontrollably. Uncontrolled division of abnormal cells in parts of the body. It can also spread to other parts of the body through blood and lymph systems. Can-cer has many types, for example the most common ones are, breast cancer, lung cancer or blood cancer etc. Even though there are many types of cancer, I will be focusing and conducting my research on cervical cancer. Cervical cancer is the type of cancer that occurs in the cells of the cervix. This is a very rare topic that isnot much known where I am from. In Pakistan, some of the rural areas, women are not much educated about this. Hence, I chose this topic so I can research it andgain as much knowledge and maybe try to spread awareness. Breast cancer or lung cancer almost everyone knows but this type of cancer, but cervical cancer, women are not much aware about it because of shame, they aren’t given aware-ness. Cervical Cancer is the second most common cancer among females. Cervix is located at the lowermost position of the uterus, it is the region connecting the uterus to the vagina. It acts as the opening point of the uterus. The cancer forms in the interior lining of the cervix. It is mostly diagnosedbetween the ages of 35 and 44. About 20% of cervical cancers are diagnosed in women over age 65. This year an estimated 13,800 women in the United Stateswill be diagnosed with invasive cervical cancer. While about 4,290 women will die from cervical cancer. Mostly all women are at risk for cervical cancer. Patients with cervical cancer are diagnosed by screening test and the most common screening test is the Pap test. During this test the doctor takes a sample of cells from the surface of the cervix inside the vagina using a spatula looking tool known as speculum. That sample is then sent to labs and pathologistsreview them. Then once the doctor finds out the patient has cervical cancer, fur-ther testing is done to know which stage of cancer it is. Also with the screening test, DNA testing may be conducted to see if there is the presence of HPV- Hu-man Papillomavirus. After the virus being diagnosed patients are provided per-sonalized treatments according to their stage. For further treatments based on howbad the cancer is, different types of surgeries are performed. Like cone biopsy, in which some part of the cervix is excised. If it's a very serious condition sometimesthe surgery performed is removing the cervix, ovaries, fallopian tube and some-times in the worst conditions the bladder and rectum all are removed. If the virus is spread in the lymph, then the lymph nodes are removed. Hence, many surg-eries, radiation therapy, chemotherapy or targeted therapy are performed to re-move the virus. An outcome of the surgeries may be that females may not have children. HPV is the main virus that causes cervical cancer. If i go deep in re-searching this virus, HPV is Human Papillomavirus. It is the most common STD (sexually transmitted disease). It is a group of related viruses that can change nor-mal cells to abnormal cells. There are more than 200 types. Some can cause warts on skin while some cause cancer. There are two proteins known as E6 and E7 in HPV that turn off certain tumor suppressor genes, such as p53 and Rb. This can cause too much development of the cells lining the cervix and changes in addi-tional genes to occur, which can lead to cancer in some instances. The two cancer-causing proteins, E6 and E7, silence the host cells' two primary tumor-suppressor genes, leading to the development of cancer. I have also read in some articles that CFTR gene which is found in cystic fibrosis and chronic leads to cervical cancer. Cervical Cancer, as I said above, is a sexually transmitted disease. Contactwith skin is how it spreads. It often occurs in women when they start having sex at an early age like before 16 or within a year of starting their periods. Having multiple sex partners, taking birth control pills (especially if taken longer than 5 years), smoking cigarettes (an increased risk of squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix has been linked with it), having weak immune system and having unpro-tected sex. Therefore to prevent the cancer from occuring is to not smoke, use protection while sex eg. use of condoms and limit the number of sexual partners. HPV infection can occur in both male and female genital areas that are covered bya latex condom, as well as in areas that are not covered. But still it is said to use a condom for protected sex. Vaccination has also been approved by the U.S. The U.S Food and Drug Administration has approved Gardasil 9 as the vaccine that can be used to treat the HPV. Mostly boys and girls are given this vaccine at the age of 9. But it is still recommended to take the Pap test even if you are vacci-nated. The vaccine Ceravix has also been approved in the U.S for females aged 10-25 for the prevention of the infection by HPV 16 and 18.Citation1) “HPV Can Damage Genes, Chromosomes Directly by Inserting Own DNA into Human DNA.” ScienceDaily, ScienceDaily, 7 Nov. 2013, www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/11/131107132825.htm. 2) “Cervical Cancer.” CancerQuest, www.cancerquest.org/patients/cancer-type/cer-vical-cancer. 3) Tsikouras P;Zervoudis S;Manav B;Tomara E;Iatrakis G;Romanidis C;Bothou A;Galazios G; “Cervical Cancer: Screening, Diagnosis and Staging.” Journal of B.U.ON. : Official Journal of the Balkan Union of Oncology, U.S. National Li-brary of Medicine, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27273940/. 4) “Cervical Cancer.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 31 July 2019, www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/cervical-cancer/symptoms-causes/syc-20352501. 5) “Cervical Cancer Causes: What Causes Cervical Cancer?” American Cancer So-ciety,