Breastfeeding can reduce the risk of developing breast cancer, but it requires breastfeeding to be continuous for a relatively long time. When a woman is breastfeeding, she experiences hormonal changes that may delay the return of her menstrual periods. This reduces her lifetime exposure to hormones such as estrogen, which are linked to an increased risk of breast and ovarian cancer.

Exercise boosts the immune system and helps you keep your weight in check. With as little as three hours of exercise per week, or about 30 minutes a day, a woman can begin to lower her risk of breast cancer. This also does not necessitate going to the gym. Power walking is more than sufficient!

You should have a physical every year, which should include a clinical breast exam and pelvic exam. Breast cancer screening is an important part of a comprehensive cancer prevention plan. Routine breast exams and mammograms are highly effective at detecting abnormal changes in breast tissue early, when there are typically the most treatment options available.

HPV enters cells and causes them to change and grow abnormally. Usually, a woman’s immune system gets rid of the virus quickly, and the infection goes away by itself. But in a small number of women, HPV does not go away. The longer HPV is present and the older the woman, the greater the risk that the virus will damage cervical cells.

The easiest ways to prevent HPV are to use condoms, practise safe sex, and get regular Pap/HPV tests. To prevent health problems associated with HPV, be sure to get regular health checkups, screenings, and Pap smears.

Vaccination works best when it is done before a person is sexually active and exposed to HPV. But vaccination can still reduce the risk of getting HPV for people who have already been sexually active. The ideal age for HPV vaccination in girls and boys is 11 or 12, but it can be given starting at age 9 and through age 26.

Women who are not having sex or who think they're too old to have a child should still have regular cervical cancer screenings. Women who have had the HPV vaccine still need regular screening. The following screening recommendations are for women at average risk for cervical cancer.

• Women should start cervical cancer screening at 21 years of age.
• Women ages 21 to 29 years old should have a Pap test every three years.
• Women ages 30 to 65 years old should have an HPV test every 5 years or a Pap test every 3 years.

Invasive cancer of the cervix is treated with surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy (the use of cancer-killing drugs). The type of treatment chosen depends on the cancer stage. You may receive more than one type of treatment.

Having a thyroid lump does not mean you have thyroid cancer. In fact, 95% of thyroid lumps are benign (non-cancerous). Most of the time, these lumps can be followed on a routine basis, without the need for surgery.

Yes, while thyroid cancer is more common in women, various forms of thyroid cancer can occur in both men and children as well. Treatment methods are similar in all patients.

Thyroid cancers are most often slow-growing tumors, but with time they can spread and metastasize. Thyroid cancers can expand from the thyroid and cause injury to nearby structures by invading in to the structures in the neck such as the esophagus, nerves, or windpipe. In more severe cases these tumors can also spread to the lungs or bones.

The treatment for thyroid cancer is to remove the thyroid gland, which is called a thyroidectomy. In many cases the whole thyroid needs to be removed (total thyroidectomy), and the lymph nodes surrounding the thyroid may be removed at the same time. In some cases, only part of the thyroid gland needs to be removed.

Thyroid cancer can return is some cases, and your surgeon and endocrinologist will monitor for any signs of recurrent disease through blood tests and ultrasound examination.

Vaginal bleeding is a common symptom of multiple cancers, including vaginal cancer, cervical cancer, uterine cancer and ovarian cancer. But abnormal bleeding is a common sign of multiple conditions, not just cancer. Don’t assume you have cancer if you have unusual bleeding.

Vaginal cancer cells behave as all cancer cells do. Instead of growing, multiplying and eventually dying like a normal cell, cancer cells continue to grow. The cells multiply until they form tumors. Over time, these tumors may spread to other parts of your body (metastasize) and invade healthy tissue.

Treatment for vaginal cancer depends on the type of cancer, cancer stage, and your age. Depending on your age, your treatment may also depend on whether you’d like to have children. In general, laser surgery and topical treatments are used to treat precancerous cells. Invasive vaginal cancer will often require surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. You may receive a variety of treatments.

You can’t prevent vaginal cancer, but you can reduce your risk.

• Get regular pelvic exams and Pap tests. Talk with your provider about how regularly you should be receiving routine checks from your gynecologist.
• Get the HPV vaccine. Talk to your provider about getting vaccinated against HPV. Currently, there are three FDA-approved vaccines available, Gardasil, Gardasil 9 and Cervarix.
• Don’t smoke. Smoking increases your risk of all cancers, including vaginal cancer.

Vulvar cancer can form on the inner and outer labia, clitoris, vaginal opening and glands, the mons pubis (skin covering the pubic bones), and the perineum.

Vulvar cancer most often occurs after menopause, and the average age at diagnosis is 65.

The average five-year relative survival rate for vulvar cancer is 71 percent.

All cancers are divided into stages. The characteristics of each stage depend on the cancer. For vulvar cancer:

1. Vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia (precancer)
2. Cancer is limited to the vulva and perineum and is smaller than 2 centimeters
3. Cancer is limited to the vulva and perineum, but tumor is larger than 2 centimeters
4. Cancer has spread to vagina, urethra, anus and/or the lymph nodes in the groin
5. Cancer has spread to bladder, bowel, pelvic bone, pelvic lymph nodes and/or other parts of the body

Ovary pain is not a specific symptom of ovarian cancer, but you should talk to your doctor about any abdominal or pelvic pain you experience.

Fibroids are not related to ovarian cancer, and most ovarian cysts are not cancerous (and will not develop into cancer). However, some complex ovarian cysts may be cancerous and should be monitored by your doctor.

You will not be able to detect an ovarian mass by yourself. During a screening, your doctor may perform an internal pelvic examination, in which he or she will insert a gloved hand into your vagina. The other gloved hand will gently press on your abdomen to feel for abnormalities.

Treatment for ovarian cancer typically begins with surgery to remove visible signs of cancer, as well as organs that may be affected by cancerous cells, such as the ovaries. After your initial surgery, called debulking, your treatment may include chemotherapy, hormone therapy and/or targeted therapy, which is designed to use drugs to attack cancer cells while reducing damage to normal cells.

Even if your cancer doesn’t require the removal of one or both of your ovaries, your treatment may damage the ovaries, which produce the eggs needed for reproduction. If you are of childbearing age and want to protect your ability to get pregnant, ask your gynaecologic oncologist for advice on fertility preservation options like ovarian cortex cryopreservation, which involves freezing the ovarian tissue before treatment.

Cancers of the uterus are not typically detected by a Pap test. For this reason, an endometrial tissue sample must be removed and examined under a microscope to look for cancer cells and procedures to diagnose cancers of the uterus include:

• Pelvic examination
• Biopsy
• Ultrasound
• Hysteroscopy and many more.

Research has shown that certain factors may help lower the risk of uterine cancer, including:

• Maintaining a healthy weight
• Taking birth control pills, especially over a long period of time
• Regularly monitoring blood sugar levels if you are diabetic.

Fat tissue may change some hormones into estrogen. Being obese and having excess fat tissue may increase a woman's estrogen levels, which raises her endometrial cancer risk. Endometrial cancer is twice as common in overweight women as in women who maintain a healthy weight, and the disease is more than three times as common in obese women. Obese women who experience early menopause may be at an even greater risk.

Uterine cancer treatment may affect your ability to conceive. The uterus, also called the womb, is a critical component of a woman’s reproductive system and houses the growing fetus during pregnancy. Sometimes the ovaries are removed as part of uterine cancer treatment. Ovarian cortex cryopreservation may be an option for women of childbearing age who want to get pregnant via a surrogate after treatment.