Survey Shows Most Women Can't Separate Fact From Fiction When It Comes to Cervical Cancer ...(all their doctors or nurses ever t...)

their doctors or nurses ever talking to them about the test.

-- Yet, the older a woman is, the more confident she is that her doctor or

nurse is giving her all of the preventive tests she needs.

Other major findings of the survey are:

-- More than half of women surveyed did not know that cervical cancer is

preventable.

-- Nearly one-third erroneously believed the HPV test isn't necessary if a

woman isn't currently sexually active, or is in a long-term, monogamous

relationship.

-- Over one-third of the women surveyed did not know that insurance

usually covers HPV testing.

-- More than a quarter of women believed the Pap is accurate enough to

find abnormal cells before they become cancerous, especially if a

liquid-based Pap is used. Yet one study has found that a third of

cervical cancers occur in women whose Paps appeared normal.(1)

Thirty-seven-year-old Jodi McKinney, a mother of five and wife of 18 years, is an example. She always made time for an annual Pap smear, which had always come back negative. In 2007, her physician, Dr. Mamie Bowers, began offering her patients over the age of 30 the HPV test along with a Pap, as an extra precaution. Although her Pap was normal as usual, the HPV test indicated that she had a high-risk type of the virus. Later, another exam confirmed she had pre-cancerous cervical disease. Fortunately, the abnormal cells were able to be removed without requiring a hysterectomy -- and before they became cancer.

"I feel extremely lucky that I was able to catch my cervical disease at such an early stage, and that I didn't have to go through any major surgeries or other treatments. I was able to move on with life and my family," McKinney recalls. "I feel so fortunate that my doctor gave me the HPV test along with my Pap. Without that extra precaution, I probably wouldn't have found out about my condition until
'/>"/>