of unusual lump.
These are very non-specific signs and
other symptoms would depend on organs
affected like persistent cough with or
without a bloody sputum, or a bloody or
foul smelling vaginal discharge as is the
case in cervical cancer.
I’d like to beg your indulgence as a lot
of my examples will be drawn from
reproductive tract cancers. The old adage
says “Prevention is better than cure” and
we all know how lifestyle impacts on life.
As mentioned earlier many cancers are
associated with smoking, alcohol and even
illicit drug consumption. No wonder your
doctor always harps to refrain from the
above vices.
There are different forms of prevention
strategies with primary prevention being
avoiding contracting possible things that
can cause the disease or carcinogens. For
lung cancer it would be to refrain from not
just smoking but even second hand smoke.
In cervical cancer it would be to abstain from
sex, avoid teen marriages and pregnancies
as we all know that these predispose young
girls to contracting Human Papilloma
Virus (HPV ), which has been shown to
be responsible for more than 99% cases
30 MAL31/19 ISSUE
The sad news is that
it is very difficult to
know you have can-
cer in the early stag-
es and by the time
you have symptoms
it is probably too
late you already have
advanced stage 3 or
4 disease. Common
symptoms that may
make you think you
have cancer could be
tiredness or fatigue,
unexplained weight
loss,headaches,
change in bowel hab-
its e.g. diarrhea alter-
nating with constipa-
tion and presence of
unusual lump.
of cervical cancer. The discovery of HPV
earned Harold zur Hausen a Nobel Prize
in Medicine in 2008. As we mention HPV
it is worth noting that there is a vaccine
and vaccination would also be a form of
primary prevention.
I had the privilege and pleasure of hosting
a small team from the Bill and Melinda
Gates foundation that were involved
in research and implementation of the
Human Papilloma Virus (HPV ) vaccine.
In countries that have introduced this
vaccine rates of cervical cancer have
dropped drastically. I say Kudos to one of
my mentors Dr. Nelly Mugo who is one
of the investigators for the Kenya Single
Dose Vaccine trial (KEN SHE) and we are
looking forward to the results of this trial.
Vaccination prevents not only cancer but
also the development of genital warts and
other diseases such as tumors in the eye.
With this in mind I take this opportunity
to encourage parents to ensure their
children both girls and boys, are vaccinated
from HPV.
Secondary prevention is targeting towards
detecting pre-cancer before it becomes
symptomatic, which involves screening.
Cervical cancer screening includes pap
smears or other screening like Visual