PREVENTION

PRIMARY PREVENTION

Prophylactic vaccine against HPV is available since 2006.In Greece,vaccination against HPV is available since 2007 and is of no cost for girls from 11 to 18 years.The goal of the vaccination against HPV is to decrease the incidence of cervical cancer and even eradicate cervical cancer in the future.

Currently,the available vaccine is Gardasil 9,that is effective against 9 types of HPV (6,11,16,18,31,33,45,52,58).

The vaccine is generally well tolerated by patients,there are no significant side effects.The only absolute contraindication is the hypersensitivity to the ingredients of the vaccine.The vaccine is also not recommended for use of pregnant women.

Naturally,even after the prophylactic vaccination women has to have regular gynecological check-up at least once a year.

SECONDARY PREVENTION

The goal is to diagnose all the precancerous lesions promptly and treat them,to avoid the invasive cancer.
The secondary prevention includes:

PAP-smear

HPV-DNA test

Colposcopy