Cervical Cancer is Rising Among Millennial Women

Cervical cancer is on the rise in millennial women, according to a study from the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

The study showed that the disease has risen by 2.5% per year among women who are between 30 and 34 years old. It’s an increase that experts say is dramatic and surprising.

According to Beman R. Khulpateea, M.D., a board-certified, fellowship-trained gynecologic oncologist at The Gynecologic Oncology Center at Mercy, part of the reason behind the increase may be that women are not going to get care.

Women interviewed in the study said they were not aware that they needed to go in for regular screenings.

Dr. Khulpateea noted that the timing for regular exams has changed.

“We used to have the setup where women were used to getting a pap smear every single year, and that was part of their routine checkup,” Dr. Khulpateea said. “Even now, we have patients who are a little bit older who are used to that. They say, ‘Well, why aren't I getting a pap smear now?’ I think maybe as the data has showed us that we can start to spread them out a little bit, maybe people aren't keeping that in the front of their mind and saying, ‘Hey, this is something we have to stay on top of.’ Maybe they're getting spread out too much, I think [that] might be one of the issues."

Dr. Khulpateea recommends women receive their HPV vaccine because that can decrease risk of getting cervical cancer by as much as 90%.

Smoking is a big risk factor that can lead to cervical cancer, and women who are immunocompromised need to stay on top of their screenings even more so.

View Mercy gynecologic oncologist Dr. Beman Khulpateea’s interview regarding the rise of cervical cancer among millennial women.