A recent study published in the journal Cancer has found that the death rate from cervical cancer is much higher than originally thought.
Researchers from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that white women in the United States are dying at a rate 47% higher than previously thought, and black women in the United States are dying at a rate 77% higher.
The study, which was published Monday Jan. 23, reviewed data from the National Center for Health Statistics and the National Cancer Institute. To get the more accurate numbers, researchers excluded women who have had their cervixes removed through hysterectomies."Since the goal of a screening program is to ultimately reduce mortality from cervical cancer, then you must have accurate estimates within the population targeted by those programs -- adult women with a cervix,” study leader Anne F. Rositch, an assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the Bloomberg School said in a statement.
These numbers also reveal a major racial gap. Black women are dying from cervical cancer at a rate of nearly twice as much as white women.
For more details, view the USA Today video below:
Just this year 12,820 new cases of cervical cancer will be diagnosed, and about 4,210 women will die from the disease, according to the American Cancer Society.
These numbers are frightening, but there are ways for women to protect themselves. A simple Pap smear can detect cervical cancer in its earliest stages. Learn more about Pap smears and HPV Tests here.