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Cervical Cancer: What Vietnamese Women Should Know
    Posted: 04/11/2006
Introduction

Each year over 10,000 women in the United States are diagnosed with cervical cancer. Vietnamese-American women get cervical cancer more often than most other women.

There is something you can do to prevent cervical cancer.

There is a simple, 5-minute test called the Pap test (or Pap smear). This test looks for abnormal changes in the cells of the cervix that could lead to cancer if left untreated. If cell changes are found early and treated, cervical cancer can be prevented. Many Vietnamese women do not get regular Pap tests. Most women who die from cervical cancer never had a Pap test.

This brochure has information about cervical cancer that EVERY Vietnamese woman should know to protect her health.



Glossary Terms

Pap test
A procedure in which cells are scraped from the cervix for examination under a microscope. It is used to detect cancer and changes that may lead to cancer. A Pap test can also show conditions, such as infection or inflammation, that are not cancer. Also called Pap smear and Papanicolaou test.