Graphic Communicator photo by Susan Zachem

At a meeting on the Working Women ROCC! Project, CLUW Pres. Gloria Johnson, left, and cervical cancer survivor Christine Bazel, far right, urge women to get regular Pap and HPV tests using the latest medical technology.

A reduction in the rate of cervical cancer among working women and an increase in screening is the goal of a new five-year project by the Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW).

The project, called Working Women Reaching Out against Cervical Cancer (Working Women ROCC!), is a cooperative effort between CLUW and the Academy for Educational Development (AED). It is funded by a grant from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

The project will focus on educational materials for working women on the risk factors for cervical cancer and the importance of getting tested with the most up-to-date medical technology.

CLUW Pres. Gloria Johnson said the prevention and detection of cervical cancer is, "as women, equally important to all of us because we are all sisters, sisters-in-law, daughters, mothers, grandmothers, great grandmothers, mothers-in-law, or friends."

Cervical cancer is the third most common cancer in women but also one of the most curable. The American Cancer Society estimates that more than 12,000 women will be diagnosed with invasive cervical cancer this year and nearly 4,000 women will die of the disease.

Carolyn Jacobson, outreach coordinator for Working Women ROCC!, noted that the ethnic patterns of cervical cancer deaths are very different from those of other reproductive system cancers.

According to CDC research, African American women have the highest age-adjusted mortality rate from cervical cancer, followed by Hispanic women. Other ethnic groups with higher rates include Vietnamese Americans and Cambodian Americans.

Jacobson said Working Women ROCC! will try to develop educational materials in various languages to target these high risk groups.

Risk factors for cervical cancer include first intercourse at age 16 or younger; having many sexual partners or having a sexual partner with many sexual partners; exposure to the human Papilloma virus (HPV) or other sexually transmitted disease, such as herpes simplex 2; smoking; poor nutrition; having decreased resistance to infection or being HIV positive; and long-term use of oral contraceptives.

HPV infection is the most important risk factor. At an informational meeting, CLUW and AED representative urged women to have their doctors administer the new screening method that tests for the presence of the DNA of 13 types of HPV that are linked with cervical cancer.

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) said women should have a Pap test and pelvic exam to help detect the early stages of cervical cancer at least once every three years after they begin to have sexual intercourse.

However, traditional Pap smear methodologies allow a high percentage of false negatives, according to NCI. A new method, called the liquid-based thin-layer slide preparation may increase the accuracy of the test, NCI said.