There are long-standing misconceptions about cervical cancer. In the face of various cervical cancer detection methods and confusing claims, you have to keep your eyes open. Myth 1: Celiac disease will become cervical cancer afterwards “Celiac disease” is a problem for many women. The term “cervical erosion” has now been abandoned in the obstetrics and gynecology community and replaced by “cervical columnar epithelial ectasia”, which is not a pathological change but should be a physiological change of the cervix. But because of the long-term habit into nature, there are many physicians who have not changed their minds, still call it “cervical erosion”, and even more some medical institutions, commercial advertising for economic interests, make a big deal about it, so that people are more afraid of “cervical erosion”. If you find “celiac disease” in your gynecological examination, don’t panic, follow the regular cervical disease screening. Myth 2: Treating cervical erosion as precancerous cervical lesions For a long time clinicians have treated chronic cervicitis and cervical erosion as synonymous, actively giving 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 women who have not yet had children can be at double the risk of “miscarriage or premature birth” in future pregnancies if they are over-treated with Lep! The essence of the 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 you have cancer Fact, not necessarily. You may need further testing, possibly colposcopy or a biopsy regarding cancer cells. Although the human papilloma (HPV) virus is responsible for cervical cancer, in most cases the body itself will clear it out. 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. HPV is divided into two categories, low-risk and high-risk, with more than 100 subtypes, and different subtypes can lead to different diseases. And only a minority of these virus 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 CIN1 and HPV infection It is wrong to give patients endless vaginal episodes, repeated surgical treatments, or even give them infusions or intramuscular injections of interferon or interleukin for treatment. Cervical intraepithelial neoplasia CIN1 and human papillomavirus HPV infection are collectively referred to as low grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSIL). New evidence-based findings suggest that the preferred treatment for these lesions is regular observation for up to one year and that most patients recover 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 for young patients who have not yet had children, women during pregnancy, immunocompromised women and postmenopausal women. Myth 5: Treating cervical cancer as cervical erosion Misdiagnosis of cervical cancer as cervical erosion and giving simple physical treatment, and mistakenly believing that once cervical erosion is treated, cervical cancer will not recur in the future, and never doing cervical screening again. This practice makes the patient lose the best time to treat the disease, causing irreparable damage and great harm. The main reasons for such mistakes are that the standardized procedures of screening and diagnosis and treatment are not followed for medical services, or the units and individuals are driven by financial interests to treat patients irresponsibly. Myth 6: Cervical cancer cannot be prevented In fact, cervical cancer is the only cancer with a clear cause, the only one that can be 100% prevented and the only one that can be completely eradicated. Infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) is a completely 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. HPV testing combined with 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 precancerous lesions develop slowly after persistent HPV infection and effective treatment can prevent the development of cervical cancer.