The next cervical screening clinic at Bexhill Health Centre takes place on Wednesday 16 September from 6pm-8pm. Women can make an appointment by ringing 07881 501126.
Anyone woman aged 25-64 who missed their last screening – also called a smear test – or is due to have one shortly (see notes for news editors) is invited to attend.
The clinic is in addition to cervical screening offered by GP practices, family planning and sexual health clinics.
“The Bexhill clinics are proving popular. They give women another option about where they go have this very important screening,” says Jenny Greenfield, consultant nurse for cervical screening for NHS Hastings and Rother & NHS East Sussex Downs and Weald – the two East Sussex primary care trusts.
Cervical screening is not a test for cancer. It is a method of preventing cancer by detecting and treating early abnormalities which, if left untreated, could lead to cancer in a woman's cervix (the neck of the womb). The first stage in cervical screening is taking a sample using Liquid based Cytology (LBC).
A sample of cells is taken from the cervix for analysis. A doctor or nurse inserts an instrument (a speculum) to open the woman's vagina and uses a brush to sweep around the cervix. Most women consider the procedure to be only mildly uncomfortable.
Early detection and treatment can prevent 75 per cent of cancers developing but like other screening tests, it is not perfect. It may not always detect early cell changes that could lead to cancer.
Women aged 25-49 are invited for screening every three years; women 50-64 every five years. They can expect to get their results within two weeks.
In the UK, approximately 3,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer each year. Cancer of the neck of the womb occurs frequently in women who are under 35 years old. Breast cancer is the only other cancer to occur more often within this age group.
There are two main types of cervical cancer:
Squamous cell carcinoma is the most common type, and develops from the flat cells that cover the outer surface of the cervix at the top of the vagina.
Adenocarcinoma develops from the glandular cells that line the cervical canal (endocervix). Adenocarcinoma starts in the cervical canal and can therefore be more difficult to detect using cervical screening tests.
Cancer of the cervix usually takes many years to develop. Before it does, the cells in the cervix often show changes, known as cervical intra-epithelial neoplasia (CIN). This precancerous cell stage is also sometimes known as dyskariosis. If left untreated, CIN can develop into cervical cancer. However, the majority of women with CIN do not develop the disease.
Although some forms of cervical cancer are becoming more common, it can be prevented if it is detected in the early stages via cervical screening.
