Driving Awareness, Action and Empowerment During Cervical Cancer Awareness Month

January serves as Cervical Cancer Awareness Month, and while the American Association for Cancer Research describes the disease as “preventable,” it is projected that more than 13,000 individuals will be diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2025, according to the American Cancer Society. Because of this, it is important to recognize the disease and continue to make strides across the treatment landscape.

Following a diagnosis of cervical cancer, it is important for a patient to ask their healthcare team which effective treatments they may be eligible for based on clinical trials and new data and science, according to Dr. Ritu Salani, who added that appropriate access to care is vital.

“It's easy to be aware of cervical cancer once it's affected you or a family member, but tell a friend, because it may not be on their radar. Educating your friends and family about cervical cancer and the importance of these avenues is really critical,” Salani emphasized.

In an interview with CURE®, Salani discussed Cervical Cancer Awareness Month, highlighting updates in patient care, how to mitigate side effects from cervical cancer treatment and the importance of patient advocacy in the treatment landscape.

Salani is a board-certified gynecologic oncologist and the Director of Gynecologic Oncology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), UCLA Health.

CURE What is the importance of recognizing Cervical Cancer Awareness Month for patients?

Salani: It's exciting to have a month dedicated to cervical cancer awareness; we can think about cervical cancer awareness in a couple of different ways. One is prevention, and this is where the human papillomavirus [HPV] vaccine plays a significant role. This is really targeted for young boys and girls and can have an impact in reducing HPV infections that can result in premalignant or precancerous and cancerous changes. That's such an important advance in the medical field.

The next is screening. This should be a reminder to all patients that cervical cancer does have a screening test, which is the Pap test, looking at cervical cells, as well as HPV; this is a more accurate way of detecting whether the presence of the virus can result in future abnormal cells or cancerous changes. Both the Pap and HPV can be tools in testing to help detect earlier signs of abnormalities and help prevent cancer formation.

The last thing is in patients who have been diagnosed with cervical cancer. Knowing there are effective treatments that are getting better based on clinical trials and new data and science is really exciting, but having good, appropriate care and access to care is really important. Therefore, getting educated using amazing platforms from patient advocacy groups can also be helpful. Prevention, screening and treatment [are all vital].

What ongoing or current research stick out to you in the cervical cancer landscape?

There are a lot of things that have happened in the cervical cancer landscape. The biggest advent has been the role of immunotherapy to help treat cervical cancer. Because of clinical trials that have already resulted, we now are using immunotherapy with radiation therapy in certain patients and using it with chemotherapy. It's changed the landscape, but clinical trials are continuing to kind of make an impact.

There are a couple of trials that I think are interesting. Some are looking at immunotherapy in different capacities, such as even before radiation treatment, or coupling immunotherapy with different agents to see if we can reignite the immune system to attack cervical cancer and in combination with other therapies, or if we can make it more active.

Another thing are new targets. One of the exciting targets that I'm personally invested in is targeting TROP2, which can be expressed on cervical cancer cells. We have a target that can direct chemotherapy to those cancer cells and hopefully be more effective in treating the cancer [while being] ideally less toxic, although that's to be proven.

There is a clinical trial looking at TROP2, [evaluating an] antibody drug conjugate and that is really exciting, having the potential to change the landscape.

For patients undergoing advanced treatment options such as immunotherapy or other targeted options, what advice would you offer them to manage potential side effects?

The best thing is to speak with your doctor and your medical care team about what side effects to potentially expect and to monitor for it. Sometimes we tolerate side effects a little bit better when we know that the cancer treatment is working or doing its job; however, we can also help mitigate or reduce some of these side effects like diarrhea, nausea and pain.

There's a lot of things that we can do, so having that open dialogue with your health care team is going to be really important. For many patients, [the health care team may consist of] gynecologic oncologists, allied health professionals such as physician assistants or nurse practitioners, nursing staff, radiation oncologists and medical oncologists. Overall, it is a team of people that are there to work with you.

The other thing to think about [is to not] be ashamed or shy to report your symptoms. It is important that we know this, as keeping [patients] on an effective therapy is one of the most important things, and if side effects develop, we may have to reduce or delay treatment, but not stop it. That's important because if we can help you stay on treatment longer, even if it's with a slow, slight delay or a reduced dose, it's still getting the therapy, and that can be key to treating your cancer.

How can patients with cervical cancer advocate for their health and collaborate with their medical team to ensure the best possible care?

The most important thing is to educate yourself as much as you can and engage in patient advocacy platforms. There are some amazing resources out there, like survivor [groups]. There's also government or society groups that are working to educate such as The Foundation of Women's Cancer, the International Gynecologic Cancer Society and even the FDA.

All of these organizations are putting out tools that will help educate you about advocacy, what the best treatment is, what trials are ongoing and provide a community for you for support and connect [you] with people who may be going through similar experiences. That can be really powerful. I want to highlight that you're never alone, and you should never feel alone, and if you do, we need to do a better job.

What would be your key takeaway message for patients based on our conversation today?

Cervical cancer is really a preventable disease for the most part, so employing tools earlier [is important]. We have a lot of responsibility as health care providers to make care accessible, to make it easier and eliminate barriers to care.

Things that [you] can do, like HPV vaccination and the screening test, can help eliminate cervical cancer, and that is our ultimate goal. Talk to your friends, talk to your providers, make sure you're up to date on your own testing. Don't assume because someone did a pelvic examination, they did a Pap test or HPV test, so please ask and get those results. It is so important and can be a key in preventing cancer.

Transcript was edited for clarity and conciseness.

For more news on cancer updates, research and education, don’t forget to subscribe to CURE®’s newsletters here.