With the untimely deaths of Yuan Yuan Li and Anita Mui, “cervical cancer” has become the most frightening word in the female world. Many women became scared, but also benefited from the health awareness and information. Thus, we have seen such frightening figures as “cervical cancer, known as the second killer of women”, “130,000 new cervical cancer patients are diagnosed in China every year”, “in the past 10 years, the incidence of cervical cancer has become more youthful “However, in the face of various cervical cancer detection methods and various confusing claims, are you clear about the characteristics of various methods and which one is the most suitable for you? Misconception 1: Cervical erosion is a pathological phenomenon that will turn into cervical cancer later. Nowadays, the term “cervical erosion” has been abandoned in the obstetrics and gynecology field and replaced by “cervical columnar epithelial ectasia”. It is not considered a pathological change, but a physiological change of the cervix. However, due to the long-term habit into nature, there are also many physicians who have not changed their minds and still call it “cervical erosion”, and even more, some medical institutions and commercial advertisements make a big deal about it for the sake of economic interests, making people more afraid of “cervical erosion”. If you find “cervical erosion” in your gynecological examination, don’t panic, follow the formal cervical disease screening; whether or not to treat “cervical erosion” depends on whether or not there is co-infection and whether or not there are symptoms. If you have symptoms and no co-infection, you do not need treatment; if you have symptoms and co-infection, such as increased discharge and contact bleeding, you should be given medication or physical therapy after a negative cytology or HPV test. Misconception 2: Treating cervical erosion as precancerous cervical lesion and giving wrong treatment For a long time, clinicians have regarded chronic cervicitis and cervical erosion as synonymous and actively give various physical treatments such as laser, freezing, microwave and even Lipo (Leep) knife for cervical disease. These wrong treatments not only bring physical pain and financial loss to healthy women, but also bring quite serious side effects. Young, infertile women who are over-treated with Leep can be at double the risk of “miscarriage or preterm delivery” in future pregnancies! The essence of so-called “cervical erosion” is the physiological phenomenon of cervical columnar epithelial ectasia, not a disease, and does not require treatment. Myth 3: A positive HPV test or abnormal cervical smear means that you must have cancer Fact, not necessarily. You may need further tests, possibly a colposcopy or a biopsy about cancer cells. Although the human papilloma (HPV) virus is responsible for cervical cancer, in most cases the body clears it out on its own. the likelihood of each person being infected with HPV in their lifetime is 75-90%, and 50-75% of the world’s population now carries the HPV virus. there are two main categories of HPV, low risk and high risk, with over 100 different subtypes, and different subtypes can cause different diseases. And only a minority of these carriers will evolve into cervical cancer. HPV is not as scary as people think, and there is no need to be overly nervous. Myth 4: Exaggerating the risk of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN)1 and human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and overtreatment It is wrong to give patients endless vaginal episodes, repeated surgical procedures, or even to treat them with infusions or intramuscular injections of interferon or interleukin.CIN1 and HPV infection are collectively known as low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSIL). New evidence-based findings suggest that regular observation within one year is preferred for the treatment of such lesions and that most patients can be cured without treatment within one year. Even if surgical treatment is needed for exceptional circumstances, it should always be administered by a qualified and experienced physician, especially in young patients who have not yet had children, women during pregnancy, immunocompromised women, and postmenopausal women. Misconception 5: Missed diagnosis or misdiagnosis of cervical cancer Misdiagnosis of cervical cancer as cervical erosion, giving simple physical treatment, and mistakenly believing that once cervical erosion is treated, cervical cancer will not recur in the future, and hence no more cervical screening will be done. This practice makes the patient lose the best time to treat the disease, causing irreparable damage and great harm. The main reasons for such errors are that the standardized procedures of screening and diagnosis and treatment are not followed for medical services, or that the units and individuals are driven by financial interests to treat patients irresponsibly. In the former case, the “three steps” of cervical screening (i.e. cytology, colposcopy and histopathology) need to be clarified, and the clinical diagnosis of CIN and early cervical cancer needs to be completed through the “three steps” diagnostic process. The latter should be rejected by any socially responsible medical practitioner. Myth 6: Cervical cancer cannot be prevented Fact: Cervical cancer is the only cancer with a clear cause, the only one that is 100% preventable, and the only one that can be completely eradicated. Infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) is a necessary condition for the formation of cervical cancer. Once the cause is clear, these precancerous lesions can be detected through regular HPV testing and cervical cytology smears for screening. The combination of HPV testing and thin layer liquid-based cytology has a sensitivity of 99% for early prevention and treatment of patients who are already infected with HPV virus or abnormal cervical cells. Usually cervical pre-cancerous lesions develop slowly after persistent HPV infection, and effective treatment can prevent the development of cervical cancer. In addition, the newly developed bivalent and quadrivalent vaccines can also be used to protect women who are not yet infected from these four subtypes of HPV. Behavioral problems can also affect cervical cancer. A woman can reduce the risk of these problems by limiting the number of sexual partners in her lifetime, not smoking, and receiving screening instructions. Each of these behaviors is a known risk factor associated with cervical cancer.