Cervical Cancer: Symptoms, Causes, Types & PET CT as a Diagnostic Tool

Cervical cancer is the condition when cells of cervical lining starts to grow in an uncontrolled manner and forms tumors. Cervix is the tube like structure made up of soft tissues that connects uterus with vagina. Cervical cancer is common cancer in women and ranks 4^th in the world. There is not any specific cause of the cervical cancer, DNA mutation in the cell lining of cervix can lead to the uncontrolled growth. Other factors include family history, HPV virus, and unsafe sex. Etc. Early detection of cancer is very important for the effective treatment and stops the spread. Cervical cancer is usually not visible till it reaches at the later stages. PET CT is very effective diagnostic tool, which is used for the detection of cancer at the cellular level. The procedure uses the radioactive tracer, which acts as glucose analog and helps to detect the abnormal conditions at metabolic level of the cells. The most common radioactive tracer used in the detection of cervical cancer is 18-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG). 

Cervical cancer

Cervical cancer is the cancer of cervix, a part of female reproductive system. Uncontrolled division of cells in the cervix can lead to the formation of tumors. Which if not controlled can cross the metastatic stage and spread to other parts of the body. Cervical cancer is one of the common forms of cancer in women and ranks 4^th worldwide among women. Most of these cancers starts from the cervical cell lining and effects the other parts of cervix.

What are the different types of cervical cancer?

There are different types of cervical cancer depending on the type of cells involved in the cancer. These types of cancers include:

• Squamous Cell Carcinoma
• Adenocarcinoma
• Adenosquamous Carcinoma
• Small Cell Cancer
• Neuroendocrine Cancers

In these type of cancers around 80% to 90% are Squamous cell carcinomas, 10 to 20% are adenocarcinoma. Rests of the types of cancers are very rare type of cervical cancers.

What are the symptoms of cervical cancer?

There are various symptoms which are related to cervical cancer and these symptoms include:

• Bloody vaginal discharge
• Watery virginal discharge
• Vaginal bleeding after sex, between periods or after menopause
• Painful sexual intercourse
• Difficulty in urinating or blood in urine
• Diarrhea, pain and bleeding through rectum
• Abdominal and pelvic pain
• Unexplained weight loss.
• General feeling of illness, swelling in legs etc.

What are the causes of cervical cancer?

The main cause of the cervical cancer is considered to be the HPV (Human papilloma virus) viral infection or sexually transmitted diseases (STD’s). There are various other risk factors which can lead to the cervical cancer and these factors include:

• Sexual history
• HPV infection
• Having unsafe sex (vaginal, oral or anal)
• Smoking
• Family history
• Genetics
• HIV infection
• Weak immune system
• Medications like DES (diethylstilbestrol) etc.

What is PET CT scan used to detect in Cervical cancer?

Cervical cancer doesn’t show any significant symptoms in the early stages, that is why it is dangerous and need to check at regularly. PET CT is one the advanced diagnostic tool which can detect various abnormalities sin cervical cancer and these include:

• Used to detect the stage of cancer
• Used to detect the origin of cancer
• used to detect the spread of cancer
• Used to detect the severity of cancer
• Used to plan the treatment for the cancer
• Used to look for reoccurrence of cancer
• Used to look for status of cancer before treatment
• Used to look for locations before going for biopsies etc.

What is the procedure for Cervical PET CT scan?

Cervical PET CT scan procedure is similar to most of the PET CT scans, which use radioactive tracer for the detection of abnormalities. There are various types of radioactive tracers used for different PET CT scans. In case of cervical PET CT, 18-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) is commonly used radioactive tracer. This acts as glucose analog that used by cells for the functioning.  Radioactive tracer is give before 1 hour of the so that it can reach to all part of the body. Patient is advised to lie on the bed attached with the scanner and this bed slides inside the scanner. It takes around 30 to 60 minutes for the imaging process and whole process of PET CT cervical scan around 2 hours. It is important to consult doctor before going for PET CT scan and reveal all medical history including allergies and current medications.

Conclusion

Cervical cancer is the condition of uncontrolled division of cell lining of cervix, which can lead to the tumors. Cervical cancer is common in women and has various causes and the most common cause being HPV infection. There are other causes like family history, STD’s, unsafe sex, genetics etc. There are various symptoms related to cervical cancer and these include painful sex, vaginal bleeding during sex, after menopause or between periods, painful urination etc. Early detection of the cervical cancer is important for the effective treatment and stop the spread. There are various tests used for the detection of cervical cancer and PET CT is one of the advanced non invasive tests used for diagnosis purpose. The test is very effective in identifying the early stages of cancer and help in treatment. There are various types of cervical cancers depending on the involvement of cell type and PET CT can diagnose all types of cervical cancers. The procedure for test is almost similar to most of the PET CT tests.